


A Horror Story

by Muscarie



Category: Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry 3
Genre: Descent into Madness, Drug Use, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Some Humor, Stockholm Syndrome, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-04 13:21:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 61,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5335622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muscarie/pseuds/Muscarie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is no such thing as an excess of kindness. Yet, when Alice Ridley saves Vaas Montenegro from drowning, unwittingly landing the first role in his the Pirate and the Mermaid fantasy, she seriously starts wishing she had just let the psycho die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

The camera shifted into focus, blinked in disbelief.

A man was sitting in what appeared to be a head, buried in the sand on a tropical island. He wore military boots, a red top and his hair was shaved at the side and styled into a Mohawk. He was playing with sand, passing it carefully from one hand to the other.

"Ok so, welcome back to the Vaas Montenegro show! Welcome back to my torture show, welcome back to my island. It is a beautiful day here but uh, like I said, Chris is not feeling too good. I don't think I'll be able to torture him for much longer now. It's sad, it's real fucking sad. It's sad but you know, que será, será."

He adopted a sorry but resigned look, briefly locked eyes with his viewers.

"But today I have some big news for you!" His voiced, flavoured with a heavy Hispanic accent, took joyful notes. "Real big news. Something happened to me. I broke into a million pieces." He let the sand escape between his fingers. "Let me tell you the story. The other day, me and my guys saw a boat, like a scuba diving boat thing with some white kids on it. So I went over first because i thought, you know, better introduce myself or something. So I'm on that boat, my men are waiting on the beach right, so I point my gun at the captain so they can't drive off while I'm talking to them because that'd be fucking rude, and then some kid, some fucking, cocksucking, rude little shit creeps up behind me and hits me right in the fucking head. Right in the fucking head!"

His hand came up, showing the exact place of the impact. He stared his viewers in the eyes, shook his head, looked back down to his hands.

"So fucking rude, hermano. I was seeing stars, ladies and gentlemen, I fell into the water and I swear to god man, I was sinking. I couldn't swim anymore man. But then..."

His eyes looked into the distance, shaded by a dreamy haze. His hard face softened visibly.

"I was saved" he said, simply. "I saved by a mermaid."

He stood abruptly, pointed his finger at the camera.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING LAUGH HERMANO!! IT WAS A MERMAID!"

He sat back onto the head.

"It was a mermaid. She dived in after me, and she held me tight." He mimicked the movement with his arms. "She took me to the surface, and got me back on the beach. Then she sang to me with her mermaid voice."

He blushed, looked sheepish.

"Ok maybe she didn't sing, maybe she was just talking to me hermano I don't know. Her hair was touching my face and my..." His hands ghosted over his own shoulders and torso.

"Ah, fuck hermano. I think I'm in love." 

He picked a pink shell off the beach, played with it, examined it, his eyes lost in some sweet dream.

"The Pirate and the Mermaid" he said. He poked the head's nose. "Sorry Chrissy, no one gives a shit about you anymore now." When the blue head failed to respond, the pirate looked back to the camera. "I think he's jealous. Chrissy's no longer got my undivided attention. I'm in love hermano, I found my sirenita. My nena."  
He smiled to himself, looked at his viewers with a cheeky smile.

"She's in my shack now. Carlos is watching her while I'm talking to you. I think she's scared but you know, is ok, she don't know me yet man. I'm gonna make her fall in love with me. She ain't never leaving my island hermano, I tell you, now I've got my sirenita I'm not letting her swim away!"

He moved to the camera, alarmingly close.

"Do you think she'll like this?" He was showing the shell. The camera failed to focus on it.

"I think she'll like it. It's pink and it's from the sea. Fuck, hermano. She so beautiful, man. So fucking beautiful it hurts. She sweet. I'm gonna go give her some mango. Introduce myself and shit."

He stood.

"Ok so, until next time ladies and gentlemen! Remember to love."

The image turned to black.


	2. A Tale as Old as Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vaas introduces himself to the mermaid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No profit is being made, as usual. Hope you enjoy :)

The pirates were holding them. They'd kicked the men to the ground, were holding the women. The captain had been shot. Alice had watched it all happen from the beach where she'd managed the drag the other pirate to. 

 

At first, Alice had not quite been able to process what was happening. Then she heard the gunshot, heard the screams. The pirates - it felt funny thinking that word, like a weird, bad joke - threw all the others onto their smaller motor boat and made their way to the beach. Straight to her.

"Oh my god!"

She stood, looked around.

"Oh my god, oh no, oh no, no, no, no!"

The noise of the motor grew louder, shouts and cries reached her ears. Was she supposed to run? Could she run fast enough? Did she have somewhere to run to? Could she hide? Should she wait where she was, spare herself the chase? She'd saved their friend, surely that would play in her favour, would it not? Yes, better not to fight. It wasn't like she would actually be able to outrun them.

The boat was nearly ashore. She saw that Tim had a nosebleed and Brad had a split eyebrow. She'd never seen real guns in her life prior to that day, but she had played enough video games and watched enough films to know these were AK-47. Probably.

So, to put it simply, she lost her shit.

Alice set off running towards the jungle, catching her feet in the sand. She tripped and fell. As she tried getting back up, her ankle was caught by what felt like an iron claw with hot, ragged leather spread over it. As she fell to her knee, Alice tried breaking free from the pirate's hold but his hand never let go of her. He crawled up to her, over her, pinning her to the sand.

"Easy, easy,sirenita, it's ok now no need to run, no need to run I said, nena!"

Now beyond panic, Alice screamed and thrashed around, kicking and scratching. His arms snaked around her upper body and crushed her arms to her chest, his weight stopping her from getting up. 

"Ok stop this now"

It seemed that no matter how much strenght, anger and desperation she put in her squirming, it only made his hold grow stronger.

"Please! Please, please"

"It's ok now nena, stop this! Stop kicking! Ok it's fucking annoying now, stop it!"

He was speaking directly into her ear, his nose buried in her hair. He was suffocating her, and eventually the girl had no other option but to stop struggling.

That was about three to four days before.

 

At present, Alice Ridley, 23 years old, was locked up in some shack on Rook Island, in what appeared to be a pirate camp. The shack was made of bamboo, it consisted of a main room which had a sofa, a tv and some films, then a tiny kitchen area, a bedroom area with a bed that had no pillow nor duvet, just a simple sheet on top, then a bathroom/toilet area. None of the rooms were separated by doors, but by colourful if not washed out batiks. There was a pirate guarding the door, and as she'd looked out the window she'd ended up having an awkward face to face with more pirates. She was still wearing the same clothes she'd worn on that day when she'd jumped into the water to save a maniac's life. There was a bucket, a big sponge, a tap and some soap but she had not dared to undress and wash anything other than her face and hands. She had had to use the toilets, a hole in the ground you flushed by pouring a full bucket of water into. She'd been drinking water from the tap, but, despite their giving her fruit and rice on a banana leaf each day, she had yet to eat, and she had yet to sleep.

She'd been separated from Brad, Tim and Jessica from the beginning and had no idea how they were. Sometimes she could hear screams of pain and supplications, punctuated by crude laughters and aggressive shouting from the voice she recognised as that of the pirate she'd dragged out of the water. She guessed that if she had not been tormented yet, it was because of her good deed. Or perhaps they had a special kind of torment in store for her? 

Her mind kept racing, though somewhat incoherently after so many hours without food or sleep. She tried to remember any documentaries, films, series, anything at all about hostages and pirates. All that came to her however was a quote from the film Taken, when Liam Neeson is told that he only has 24 hours to find his daughter, and any time after that would be too late. Well, she'd been abducted more than 24 hours before, and her dad was no Liam Neeson. The middle aged Englishman had moved to sunny Dordogne, France, a few years before, and spent most of his afternoons trying to invite, in broken French, his neighbours for an appéritif. Alice's mother, a Swedish artist, now lived in Italy with her new boyfriend. He was Alice's age, and they both liked the same tv shows.

She shook her head. She still couldn't decide whether there was comfort in remembering her family or if it was easier for her to just block them out of her mind.

Suddenly, the crazy pirate's voice rang a lot closer than normal - he must have been right next to the shack.

"Ok now hermano you clean that shit up ok? I'm going to see my sirenita."

She heard his heavy footsteps, so very close now. Her heart clenched and turned to stone, pushing down on her chest and trying to make its way down to her stomach. Her throat tightened, and a little burp escaped her (comically, Alice always burped when she was nervous). She was reminded of the time when her mother and her had spent two weeks in the Canadian wilderness, and had had to sit quietly for hours, shivering in fear, while a bear was lurking around the unlocked cabin.

She kept her eyes fixed on the door,wide open. Nothing happened for a while, then, the tip of a dark Mohawk gradually appeared, followed by a smiling head, strong shoulders.

"Hello" 

The pirate fully stepped into view, and Alice had to crane her neck to look at him. He was tall, solid, wore dirty clothes and heavy boots. His hallucinated eyes were circled with black, his smile wolffish.

"How are you today?"

She scrambled to her feet, crossed her arms. Her back was against the wall, the window to her left. Maybe she could jump out of it?

"No offence, nena, but you look like shit today" he interrupted her thoughts. 

Pardon??

"You look tired. There" he pointed at the area under his eyes. "Are you not sleeping well nena?"

When she failed to respond, he pressed, his upper body jerking forward abruptly: "huh?"

"Oh um, no, no I'm not sleeping very mu- very well."

"FUCK!!" He yelled suddenly, his arms punching into he air. Alice recoiled in fear. He started pacing the tiny room, like a tiger in a cage. The light filtering through the bamboo ceiling even gave the impression of stripes on his hard body.

"You know, why is that, huh? What is it, nena? HUH?!"

"I , I don't, I don't,...!"

"Is it the noise?" He asked suddenly, stopping dead in his tracks. "Hm? Is it the noise at night?"

Thinking he meant the incessant cries of pain, begging, and barking, Alice nodded hesitantly.

The pirate shook his head, looked somewhat sorry. 

"It's the jungle nena, it's noisy. It's all the birds and insects and shit. You're gonna have to get used to it." He chuckled. "Must be different from the sea, huh? Bet it's real quiet down there. Under da sea, under da sea!" He sang.

The way he moved around the room was unpredictable and frightening, and Alice had yet to understand what this was all about. Why was she there? What was he going to do to her? If he was going to hurt her, she would rather he just got on with it. Was he mocking her scuba diving?

"No but for real, nena, you need your beauty sleep. I can give you something to help you?"

"Um, it's ok thank you."

"I know I can get quite grumpy when I don't get my beauty sleep. Also I look like shit."

She stared. In his earlier outburst, he'd pushed a chair to the floor. His muscles still twitched with unrest. A nasty looking scar run from his neck to his forehead, and the hair around his Mohawk was patchy, unevenly shaved. His eyes were circled with dark but it was impossible to say whether it was intentional or not. His clothes were dirty.

"I don't like the way you're looking at me."

"Sorry"

"I don't like that word."

"Sor- I mean..."

He burst out laughing, and just like in anger, his whole body shook with the emotional display.

"Vaas!" Someone called.

"Guys fuck off I'm on a date here."

He turned to Alice. She crossed her arms a bit more tightly. There was a good few feet between them, but she felt like he could jump on her at any second. It was like being in a cage with a hungry tiger. Maybe if she didn't turn her back to him, didn't look him in the eye, showed submission...

Slowly, he picked up the chair and sat on it. He reached into his pocket and got a little booklet out. Alice recognised it instantly. It was her passport.

"Alice Belle Ridley." He read out. "Profession: mermaid" he laughed at his own joke. He waved the passport in her direction. "I took the picture out, I hope you don't mind? I'm gonna keep it in my wallet."

"Vaas!!"

"I'll keep this for now also" he said, putting the passport away. "A British passport is worth a lot of money these days." He stood. "I'll buy you a gift with the money, nena. What do you like?"

"VAAS!"

"FUCK, GUYS!! I'm coming hermano, chill the fuck out, ok!!" Once again, his powerful arms jerked with rage, veins popped out along his neck and his whole body tensed as he got to his feet. A lot more calmly, he said to Alice:

"Ok now Alice, I've got to go. These motherfuckers can't do anything on their own. Always they're calling me, Vaas, Vaas, how do I put my shoes on, Vaas... I'm Vaas. We met on the beach. I'm gonna go now, when I'm back I want to see you fully rested, fully beautiful. Have a sleep. Have a shower. Watch a movie. And eat your rice and fruit. It's rude not to finish your plate."

He walked out.

Alice slid down the wall, let herself cry. She was so,so tired! After a few moments, the tears had burned her eyes so much that she could hardly keep them open any more. Gently, she let herself fall to the floor, in a ball,holding her knees to her chest. Sleep hit her like a blow to the head.


	3. Chapter 2 : Fly Trap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for the support, and simply for reading my ramblings. Thank you especially to the people who have commented, these fuel me :) hope you enjoy. This story should be about 10 to 14 chapters long if all goes to plan and I don't give up.

A day and a half later, Alice was still in the shack. She'd slept, eaten, and after extensive deliberating she'd decided to have a more thorough wash, but without undressing entirely. Having wrapped a batik around her body, she started by washing her clothes as best she could before hanging them up. Then, pausing every few minutes to listen out for any approaching footsteps, she started washing herself and her hair.   
Finished, she put the damp clothes back on and finger combed her hair. She wrapped it in the batik and wandered back into the main room. No one.

Hesitantly, she walked to the door to take a look out. A big, muscly pirate stood with his back to her, holding a machine gun. She hurried back in.  
There was a window above the bed, so she climbed on top of it to have a look out. The camp was heavily guarded with pirates, dogs (a kind of pitbull half breeds), and from her spot she could see some sort of bamboo stage with people kneeling on it, hands tied behind their back. One of them was Brad. She gasped. Further along, there was another elevated area with a roof made of branches, and there she could see people hung by their wrists. There were Tim and Jessica. Plus some other people from the trip. Alice covered her mouth, let her hand slip to her throat. Scratched at the skin.  
Suddenly, a laughter now scarred into her brain forever rang loud, awfully close.

As if stung by a bee, Alice jumped up and ran out of the bedroom, banging her knee on the door in the process. She looked desperately for something to make her look busy, and, at the last second, fell to the floor near the TV and grabbed the first DVD, pretending to read the back cover. His shadow covered her.

"Hello" he said. "How are you today?"

"Oh um, I'm ok, thank you."

"Did you sleep?"

"Yes, yes I did."

She could feel that he was staring at her, but she couldn't bring herself to face him.

"Are you not gonna ask me how I am?" He barked, and she jumped.

"Oh! Sorry, how are you?" She tried to sound nonchalant, but her voice wavered like an old lady's.

"I'm ok."

She nodded, twitched her lips. Turned back to the DVD. She heard him walk over, slowly. The tips of his boots were nearly touching her legs. She could feel the heat emanating from his body. Her hands started shaking.

"You like Superbad?" He asked in disbelief.

Her eyes finally saw which DVD she was holding.

"Um, yes."

"It's a shit movie. It's fucking shit but it's fucking funny no?"

"Yes."

"I know the guy who plays McLovin." He said, taking a few steps back.

"Sorry? I mean, pardon?"

"McLovin. That fucker" he bent, pointed at the character on the cover. "I know him he's a good friend."

"Oh." 

What on earth was he on about?

"If you want, I can introduce you. Do you want to meet him?"

"Pardon?"

"Do you want to meet him?"

"Uh, I don't... I'm not... What do you...?"

"DO YOU WANT TO MEET HIM, YES OR NO!!" He yelled suddenly.

"Sure,sure!"

"Ok, come here."

He grabbed her arm and pulled her outside. The batik fell off her head. They walked past the armed pirate, down the steps, and into the main courtyard area. The pirates looked at her, detailing her. The crazy one was still holding her arm, tightly but not painfully. His long strides were hard to follow. They walked past the stage - or gallows, really - where Brad was. He did not look up. They walked past Jessica and Tim, and Jessica locked eyes with Alice.

"Alice! ALI!" Screamed Jessica in a broken voice.

This woke Tim up.

"Jess!" Shouted Alice, feeling tears coming up.

"Ali! Ali!" Jessica started fighting her bindings, and Tim just sort of looked at her, his eyes tired and unseeing.

"Hey! Let her go, don't hurt her!!" This was Brad, waking up.

"LET HER GO!" Shouted Brad, trying to get to his feet. 

"Where are you taking her?" Cried Jess.

A pirate hit Brad in the stomach and he fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

"Ali!"

"Jess, don't fight! Oh please don't hurt them!" Whimpered Alice to the pirate pulling her towards the gates.

"It's not me who's hurting them." He said simply. 

Alice threw one last desperate look at her friends before they were out of sight. She looked forward and saw the gates open. There were pirates everywhere, heavily armed, and they had cars, cars equipped with huge machine guns. They had nasty dogs that barked at her. Nasty pirates that barked at her. Subconsciously, she shifted a bit closer to her captor. As if on cue, he pulled her against him and wrapped his arm on her shoulders, keeping her close, nearly choking her. He smelled of weed, smoke and sweat. The hot, moist air of the jungle stuck to her skin.

They exited the camp, walked on the road for a bit then went into a wooded area.

"Where are we going?" She asked after a couple of minutes had passed.

"To meet McLovin, like I said."

"But where is he?"

"He's at the beach,stop asking so many questions nena."

They got to a beach. Finally he let go of her and led the way onwards. Alice's eyes had forgotten about bright lights, and she blinked in the sunshine and warm, white sand.

"Ok this way!" He sounded excited, and the girl felt even more frightened. Should she run?  
As if he'd read her mind, the pirate shouted over his shoulder: "don't make me pick you up".

She followed. There was no one on the beach. Was he taking her there to kill her? Drown her? Rape her? All three of those?

They walked on, and eventually Alice couldn't take the suspense anymore.

"Hey, um, if, if you're going to... You know..."

"Here!!" He was pointing at the sand.

She followed his gaze. Gagged.

There was a head in the sand. A blue, dead head. A human head. The McLovin actor's head.

"Here he is!! " chanted the pirate. He did a twirl, pointed his fingers at the head, as if announcing a star to a tv show. "Mr McLovin!! I call him Chris though. Say hello to my mermaid Chris, say hello to my sirenita. Chrissy?" He looked back to her. "I pissed on his head once. It was a joke, no hard feelings hey Chris?" He bent to his knees, poked at the head. "Ok don't be rude, say hello to my mermaid Chris." A fly escaped the mouth.

Alice screamed.


	4. The White Rabbit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the support, especially people who take the time to leave kudos and comments :) a bit of a descriptive chapter, next one, Alice will strike a deal with the devil!  
> Stay tuned ;)  
> Disclaimer applies.

Alice's nights became as nightmarish as her days. 

 

She had yet to understand why she was not tied up with her companions. The crazy pirate she'd saved had been keeping her in his shack, where he himself hardly seemed to spend any time. She guessed that it was her saving the psycho which meant she was relatively better treated than the others, but surely this would not last. Not knowing what he had in store for her was the worst. Alice was someone who liked to know what was coming, liked to be prepared, liked to brace herself. She hated surprises. Was she to become the pirate's next head in the sand? Would he get another girl after her, introduce that girl to Alice's dead head? Weirdly, Alice felt she could have dealt better with knowing this was her fate, rather than remain free to imagine it.

 

One night, as she'd fallen asleep on the floor, her head resting on her arm and her arm on the settee, she dreamt that the pirate named Vaas walked into the shack, and suddenly Alice could see that it was filled with heads, blue, dead heads, with flies crawling out of their mouths. Heads on the settee, the TV, in the fridge... The pirate spoke to them, had full, one sided conversations with them. The room was dark and damp, the door was wide open and some horrid smell came into the shack and filled Alice's nostrils. The noises of the jungle sounded threatening and she could hear some sort of growling, as if a beast was lurking around the shack. Should she shut the door? The pirate was walking around, talking to his dead heads, then suddenly he froze, his eyes grew huge and he stared at Alice. His teeth showed and growed, sharpening, and he said: "I need your head, nena. I need your head. I need the mermaid's head." Alice made for the door but her legs refused to follow her, and her whole body felt heavy and unresponsive. Raging, she fought the dream to reach the door, crawling, and as her hands grasped the threshold she turned back and saw the pirate crouch then jump to her, all teeth out. She screamed her terror but it got stuck in her throat.

A whimper escaped Alice as she woke. It was daylight. The jungle noises were as normal. There was no beast, no heads, and most importantly there was no pirate. The filtering sunbeams had not moved, they were still shining on the exact same stripes of the room. Her guard had not even shifted foot. She couldn't have been asleep long.

"That's five minutes sleep in about two days now nena."

Alice's head hit the back wall. The pirate was standing by his bedroom, looking at her with a scowl on his cruel face.

 

"That's no good." He stepped further into the room, contemplating. Alice shuffled to the corner. Had the moment come?

"Why aren't you sleeping well?" He was hardly asking her, it was more like he was thinking aloud. "You don't want the bed. You don't want the settee. Why not, huh?" He addressed her this time, and Alice shrugged weakly. She did not want to be on anything that resembled a bed in fear that he might join her there. Of course, she couldn't say that. She blinked and it felt painful. Her eyes burnt with exhaustion. Everything was starting to feel a bit distant. Only the nightmares felt real. She was having more and more trouble focusing on single thoughts. Realising that he was waiting for her to say something, but having forgotten what he'd asked, she said : 

"I'm having nightmares and they wake me up before I can rest."

"What nightmares?"

"Um... I see um, heads everywhere. Dead heads, with flies coming out of their mouths." She was not daring to face him as she said that. Surely he would work out where that sordid image had come from. "And I hear a beast lurking around the shack, like it's hunting me."

"Dead heads huh?" He looked down to his feet, looking a bit sheepish. "You know, McLovin wasn't just a head. I mean, his body was still attached to his head. See," his arms moved up, showing what he meant. "I buried him whole in the sand. He was stood up except underground. And he was alive... For a while. I didn't know he was dead then, he's done this little trick a few times already. He acts all dead and I get shit scared, but then a bit of electricity, a bit of spider, a bit of piss... And he wakes up. Ok now this time it's not a trick, I see that now. Good thing is he was already about 90% buried so it was quick to clean up."

Alice's foggy mind was trying to imagine the body under the sand. Was sand that solid you couldn't move at all? Strangely, she was becoming vaguely aware of the fact that this revelation, that she'd seen a dead body and not a detached head, was actually succeeding in giving her some relief.

"What beast is it? Lurking around in your dreams?" Maybe he'd said head, not dreams.

"A tiger."

"A tiger's fine, they don't come into the camp. They'd have to eat about 20 dogs first. Tigers are ok, as long as it's not the ink monster."

"The...?"

"You leave me no choice, Alice." He crouched, his face serious. The use of her actual name instead of some silly endearment sobered her up a bit. "If you don't sleep, you don't rest. If you don't rest, you will die. Sleep is very important for your health." He was staring into her eyes. She stared back, confused. 

"Get up, come on let's go." He said, jumping up. "Come" he extended his hand, grabbed her forearm and brought her to her feet.

"Wha-where..."

"We're going to see the doctor. You," he pointed his finger at her face, "are scaring the shit out of me, nena, you know that? Let's go."

When they arrived at the doctor's house, Alice awoke with a start and subsequently realised that she'd fallen asleep on the way, although 'passed out' might have been a more accurate way to describe it. 

Rubbing her eyes, she did not even bother looking around but simply let the pirate grab her arm again and lead her towards a house. Ironically, now that he'd gone through the trouble of taking her to see a doctor, Alice felt ready to sleep.

When she next opened her eyes, they were standing in what looked like a greenhouse, and the pirate was speaking to some white haired man. There was a strong smell in the air, earthy and wet. The air was hot. It was like the island itself was sweating onto her. She rubbed her eyes again.

There were steps, steep steps, and two voices talking around her. She could recognise the iron grip on her forearm.

A pink bed. Pink walls, dolls. All that's missing is the posters on the wall, the ones with all the different types of fish, and the world map. The bed is so soft and comfortable and clean and soft and so soft that Alice starts sobbing. She is crying because the room is like hers used to be and she feels like telling her mum that she is feeling sick so she can stay in this clean soft warm bed all day. She whimpers as her eyes search the room for the posters.

A gentle hand was caressing her face, shushing her. She drank something.

 

When Alice awakes, the sun seems high up in the sky. She stirs in her bed, buries her face in the soft pillow. She realises that she is under the duvet and it is unbearably hot. There is a fan hanging from the ceiling and all the windows are open. Alice sits up in bed, and everything comes back to her in a sickening wave. This isn't her room. 

Electrified with a sudden panic, Alice yanks the duvet off and inspects herself. She is still dressed, the very same clothes she wore that fateful day when the pirate jumped on their boat. She doesn't feel any sort of soreness which would suggest that she'd been touched inappropriately. Well, she may have been touched, but at least not raped. Hopefully.

There is a pair of sneakers by the bed, they look roughly her size. The girl puts them on, has a walk around the room. It is truly amazing how much of a difference sleep can make, and she marvels at her newfound energy, calm, hunger, and all round optimism. She thinks back to what the pirate told her: 'I'm really grumpy when I don't sleep' he'd said, and she'd dismissed it. Now, with her mind at rest, she could appreciate the implications of that declaration. So far he had been kind of nice to her, feeding her, talking to her, even taking her to see a doctor when she was unwell.

Oh yes, snickers her mind, what a kind soul, abducting you and doing God knows what to your friends...taking you on a nice stroll to the beach to look at at dismembered head...

It was a body, not a head. 

And that makes it all so much better.

The point is, she tells herself, if this is him being sociable, she does not want to think of what he's like when he is 'grumpy'.

Pushed by hunger, Alice wanders downstairs where she starts realising that this house is, in fact, her dream house. There are tall, wide windows everywhere and an impressive amount of things all over the floor and furniture. Each set of windows seems to have a comfy chair of some sort facing out, and there are books,mainly about tropical plants and their properties, absolutely everywhere. The sunlight floods the whole room,and Alice remains still for a few seconds, struck by awe. 

The kitchen is wide and has an armchair at the back. A half empty cup of coffee is resting on the arm. There is food all over the place, gorgeous fruit and vegetables and bread. She walks past a big locker thing displaying different types of guns and tries opening it, not at all surprised to find it shut. Alice cuts herself a slice of bread and peels a mango. She pours herself a big class of fresh water and takes her breakfast to the armchair. Sitting there, she is once again struck by awe at the amazing, insanely beautiful view that spreads before her.

The island is gorgeous. It is emerald hills and turquoise water, shimmering in the sun. Flocks of white birds occasionally cross the azure skyline, and there are bright, exotic flowers all around the doctor's house. For a moment, Alice allows herself to imagine that it was it was all a bad dream, that she is on a holiday with her family and they have rented this gorgeous property for a whole summer. No pirates, no nasty dogs, no screams in the night.

Alice stays in the armchair even after she has finished eating, then, growing bolder, she decides to explore the grounds a bit further. Outside the house - mansion - there is a greenhouse, and some sort of porch thing overlooking the sea, with a long chair on it. Aloce takes a few steps back, looking up at the house. It is white, wooden, one of these colonial houses for which Alice had always had a secret fondness.

She straightens her back and opens her arms for the first time in days, feels the breeze, enjoys the light.

Something is shuffling around in the greenhouse and Alice, still oddly brave, decides to go and have a look. Perhaps she will finally meet the good doctor who gave her a most amazing bed.

"Hello?" She calls out.

The greenhouse is overcrowded with plants and mushrooms of all shapes and sizes. The girl recognises the earthy, wet smell.

A skinny, white haired man appears from behind a tall plant with spiky leaves.

"Ah!"'he says. He shuffles awfully close to her. He smells of something strong.

"You are awake, at last! Have you rested well my dear?"

"Yes thank you" replies Alice as she tries to inch away from him without looking rude. 

"It has been two days" says the doctor, and he is looking at her as if from above a pair of reading glasses, " and we were starting to wonder if you would ever wake."

" We?"

"Vaas and myself of course."

"Who's...?"

"Vaas" he repeats, and the smile has gone from his face. "The uh, the pirate who brought you here. With the Mohawk."

"Ah yes, of course, Vaas... Is he here?"

"No, no," the doctor waves his hand dismissively, turning to his pots and shrooms. "He's a busy man. He's been visiting you though, and quite frankly my dear you did well waking up when you did because Vaas was starting to suggest new ways of bringing you back to us." He chuckles.

"New ways?" Pushes Alice.

"Yes... I believe the words 'true love's kiss' is what he called his miraculous treatment."

"Wow, well... Is he, is he coming back?"

He must have heard the worry in her voice, because the doctor throws her an inquisitive look from above his non existent glasses.

"He will do. He most certainly will do."

He continues to stare at her, and Alice shifts awkwardly under his knowing eyes.

"Well,thank you very much Mr...?"

"Dr Earnhardt, my dear."

"I'm Alice" she says. " I've had such a good night sleep. I've helped myself to some breakfast, I hope that's alright. You... You have a really beautiful home."

At these words the doctor breaks his gaze and laughs good heartedly.

"Thank you,thank you... This old thing is crumbling to the ground!"

She laughs with him, hoping it doesn't sound too forced.

As the laughter dies out, Dr Earnhardt gives another,suspicious look. 

"Tell me, Alice, where did..."

He does not finish his sentence, however. An engine can be heard stalking up the hill, and within seconds the car stops outside the house. They hear the door slam shut, heavy footsteps approaching. The doctor gently pushes Alice outside, pretending not to notice her resistance.

"Hello, nena, how are you today?"

He is there, joyful as usual.

"I've had a rough day so far." He continues, walking to them. "I am glad to see you are better. I have big plans for you today, I have a surprise."

There is a long streak of blood accross his forehead and splattered on his top, and instantly Alice knows.

It isn't his blood.

It is her friends'.


	5. Deal with the Devil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for those of you who are sticking up with this story :) I have forgotten to mention that there will eventually be smut, so please be aware that this is mature content. Also it is violent.  
> Thank you for any kudos/comments you leave, and thanks simply for actually reading :) any suggestions are welcome.  
> Hope you enjoy!

And suddenly reality comes crashing down on Alice as Vaas drives them away from the white mansion and down into the dark jungle. The breeze loses them and is replaced by moist, heavy air, and the vegetation is so dense that there is hardly any light filtering through the branches. Alice holds on tightly as the car wizzes through the trees. She risks a glance at the pirate and notices that he is smiling to himself. She wonders briefly if she should try making him crash the car, decides against it. She is convinced that he is taking her to her friends.

Eventually they seem to go up a hill again, and it gets lighter. They stop at a clearing about halfway to the top, and several pirates are already there. They carry their machine guns on their shoulder, wave at Vaas.

The view from the cliff bordering the clearing is stunning, but it is easy to forget its beauty as Alice's eyes settle over the five silhouettes kneeling on the floor in a straight line, hands tied behind their backs. Three of those are Jessica, Brad and Tim, the other two are an elderly married couple they met on the scuba diving trip. Sweet couple, reluctant to try spicy food but very friendly. They are sitting close to each other, their shoulders connecting, and the woman is crying.

She follows as Vaas leisurely walks to them. He pulls a series of passports from his back pocket and starts flicking through them.

"Mr and Mrs Cards. Cool name. Not so cool though, is the fact that your family doesn't love you. Either of you. No one is willing to pay to get you out." He sticks his bottom lip out, and Alice feels like smacking him. "Sad. You're worthless. Just like this fucker here" he takes a step towards Brad. "Bradley Hunt from Australia. No one's stepping forward for you neither hermano. Worthless, pointless, FUCKS!!!!"

Suddenly extremely animated, Vaas walks over to another pirate and grabs his hand gun from his holster. He strides back to his hostages.

"OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!!" He shouts, veins popping out along his muscular neck and shoulders. 

BANG 

Mrs Cards' head bursts into red mist.

BANG 

Mr Cards' head explodes like a watermelon.

BANG

Brad's brains splash onto Tim's face and torso.

"AND YOU" screams Vaas as he pushes the smoking gun into Tim's temple. "HERMANO, YOU BETTER FUCKING WISH YOUR FAMILY SENDS OVER THE FUCKING MONEY!!" 

Tim's eyes are shut, his brows furrowed, his mind far away. Jessica is sobbing uncontrollably.

"Stop, please stop!" Alice begs without realising. "Stop!"

He is ignoring her, yelling at Tim to look him in the eye.

"Stop! VAAS!!" Screams Alice, and the pirate freezes. 

"Vaas!" Repeats Alice. "Vaas, please, stop! Wait!"

He turns to her, slowly, looking into her eyes. There is a little bit of brain on his shoe.

"I mean, please, will you stop for a second?"

"Say that again." His voice is calm, almost emotionless.

"Please st-"

"No, not that. My name. Say my name again."

Alice's heart picks up a beat. She has no idea where he is going with that. At least he is no longer tormenting her friends.

"Say it again." His hand goes to cup his ear.

"Vaas." Says Alice, and it sounds like a question even to her ears. Had she got the name wrong?

The whole of the pirate's face morphs from insanity fuelled rage into pure joy.

"WOOO!" 

He walks around, smiles at his companions. 

"You hear that hermano? Don't it sound sweet? Don't it sound good? How hot is my name on her beautiful lips?" He does a twirl, sits next to Tim and puts his arm around his shoulders.

"You heard that hermano? She said my name. She said Vaas." 

"Vaas" says Alice, a bit more forcefully this time. "Please will you just... Wait for a second, and hear me out. I'd like to speak with you if that's ok."

"She's talking to me hermano" whispers Vaas into Tim's ear. He gets up, opens his arms, all smiles.

"I am listening."

"Can I speak to you in private?" Asks Alice, and she turns and walks away, refusing to witness his reaction to that.

She walks towards the jungle, not really knowing what she is going to say to him, and not being even sure that he is in fact following her.

"Ok nena it's far enough now no?" She jumps as his voice rings right behind her.

She looks at him. He feels very close, and he is frightening, so very frightening. His smell is all smoke and sweat and something metallic. She is alone in the woods with a maniac. She must be mad herself.

"Ok, so... You... Why did you bring me here?"

"I thought you might like to see your friends."

She searches for any sign of mockery but his face seems earnest.

"You killed Brad. And that couple. You just shot them, you stopped their lives like it was nothing."

She starts shaking, and she knows her lips are quivering. She can taste a salty tear pooling there.

Suddenly his rough hands are cupping her face, the thumbs wiping at her cheeks.

"Shh, don't cry" he cooes. "I don't want to see my mermaid cry."

She moves out of his grasp as his thumb touches her bottom lip, tries to regain control. She's disgusted and feels like rubbing her lip. But he's followed her there, he's listened to her. Perhaps he will listen to her proposition, and regardless of what happens next, at least she will know she tried her best.

"I have a question for you. What do you want from me?"

Finally, it is out there. She may even get an answer.

"What do I want from you?" He asks, and there is surprise on his face. "I want everything, nena. Everything. I was drowning and you pulled me out. You sang to me. I heard your voice and now it is there" he points at his head, "and I want you to be mine. That's what I want from you."

Well. She wasn't expecting that, but now that it is said it makes her proposition all the more likely to be accepted.

"Ok." She swallows uncomfortably. "Then, I have an offer to make you."

"I like offers" he says, and his grin turns wolffish.

"I will be... Yours. If you agree to my conditions."

He keeps silent for a while, his face unreadable, and Alice wonders if she's angered him.

"You will be mine, huh? Just like that?"

"Well, not just like that, there are conditions..."

"That's not how love works, nena. You can't just decide to be mine. If I agree to your conditions, I want you to do this: never leave me, stay here with me on this island, stay faithful to me, and try your hardest to fall in love with me. Don't change me,but try to love me. Don't make me choose. Ok?"

"So... You'll agree to my conditions if I agree to try my best to... Love you?" She cannot help the nervous disbelief in her voice.

"Don't you mock me, nena. A mermaid and a pirate is a perfect match. You will be surprised." He straightens his back, crosses his arms on his chest. "Ok then, mermaid, tell me your conditions."

"Ok. Number one" she takes a deep breath. "Do not kill my friends."

"That's an unfair condition, I've already done that."

"You killed one. Don't kill Jess and Tim."

"Ok. They live."

"And don't torture or sell them either."

"Is that condition number 2?" He chuckles. "I'm just fucking with you. Agreed. But just to be clear, they can never leave the island anyway. They can fuck off and do whatever, but they can't leave."

"Agreed."

"Nena, if they leave, they die."

"Agreed" repeats Alice. "Number two" she thinks hard about this one. "Protect me. Against the other pirates, the jungle, everything."

"Now that's a bit rude, because you're my mermaid, of course I will protect you. What, you think I'm some savage? I agree to all your conditions so far. How many more?"

"Number three" she continues. "I want to be allowed to move around. I want to be able to leave the shack, visit the doctor if I want to, drive around, take walks."

"Now" he frowns, "this one we need to negotiate." He rubs his chin, deep in thought. Points a finger at her. "See, this island is not safe. You will be free to walk around the camp, and free to drive up to the doctor's house, but only there. Any other place you want to go, I need to come with you. If you don't respect this, the agreement is over and I will sell your friends. That Jessica looks expensive. Understand? You can walk around the camp, you can go to the doctor's house, everywhere else is off limits. Unless I come with you. That's for your own safety. And I want you to learn to shoot a gun. Are we ok?"

"Ok."

"Any more conditions?"

"One more" she says, and he groans, shifting foot. She is losing him, and needs to make this quick. "This one is not negociable. You must never... Force me into anything sexual."

That stops him, effectively captures his full attention once again.

"You can't rape me. Even if I'm your... Your girlfriend, you can't rape me. Ever. If I say no, it is no. Do you agree?"

Now, he does actually look angry. So angry in fact that his whole body starts shaking, muscles rolling under his rough skin as he starts pacing around.

"FUCK!!" He screams, punching the air. "FUCK!" He stops in front of her, raises his hands like he's about to grab her face, walks away again. 

"Is that what you think of me? HUH? I agree to this fucking condition. And I got a couple of conditions for you too." He yells, charging towards her.

He suddenly calms, counts on his fingers.

"My first condition: I don't want to hear you say sorry or please to me. I fucking hate those fucking words. My second condition: you stop this." He is pointing at her face.

"My... Face?"

"That scared look on your face. I hate that look. You stop looking at me like this. Understood?" 

She nods.

"Ok. Lastly, you said to me that I can't rape you. Now, I have a suggestion for you: from now on, you will be the one to set the pace. Meaning, sirenita, if you touch me in any way, then that gives me permission to touch you too. So if you hold my hand, from then on I can hold yours too. If you hug me, I can hold you. If you kiss me, I can kiss you. And I won't rape you. That ok with you, nena?"

"Ok."

He holds his hand out, his smile wide and menacing.

"Deal?"

After a last minute hesitation, Alice shakes his hand.

"Deal."

And down the hole Alice goes, without he slightest idea in the world how she is going to get back out.


	6. The Vaas Montenegro Show

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you ever so much for your continued support and kind kudos and words, and thank you to you too, silent reader ;) I'm not overly pleased with how this chapter has turned out, however I am excited to publish the next, and if this one is out of the way then the next is on its way right?
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

The image blurs then zooms in on a scene a few feet away, focuses.

There is a girl, sitting on a stone. There are armed men walking by her, but she seems undisturbed. She is wearing red swimming shorts and a blue top. Her long hair is thrown over her shoulder, and the ties of a yellow bikini are visible around her neck. She appears unaware that she is being filmed. She is smiling, laughing softly as she cuddles what looks like some sort of pitbull mongrel puppy with a flat face. The animal is so young that its round belly touches the floor due to its short legs. It keeps trying to lick the girl's face, and she pulls away, giggling. 

"Ok, so" starts a voice, tinted with a strong Hispanic accent. "Welcome back internet peoples, welcome back to my show. Chris is no longer with us. I know you voted life, but he decided to just die anyway. How very fucking selfish of him. But nevermind! Today, I present to you, my mermaid. Isn't she beautiful?"

The camera awkwardly zooms in further, brushing over the girl's face, neck, chest, her hands as she tickles the dog.

"So fucking beautiful." Says the man, his voice husky with emotion. "Like a dream." The image shakes towards the puppy. "That dog is fucking ugly though. Look at this little shit. What the fuck, honestly hermano. It's like the gods of ugliness all took a big shit, then threw it on this island and made it bark."

There are loud noises and the image blurs, all colours melting together in a sickening mix as the pirate turns the camera to his own face.

"If she loves this ugly ass puppy, she'll love me too, don't you think? I'm better looking than that dog, no?" He points his finger at his viewers. "I want you to comment petal number 1, if you think she loves me, and petal number 2, if you think she loves me not. It's your call. You vote number 1 if you know what's good for you, hermano." He smiles at the camera. "Now go and have a fucking walk or something, you lazy fuck. Bye."

 

*

Alice tries her hardest to focus on the warm, happy puppy nibbling at her fingers. The truth is, she is afraid of dogs, especially big, mean ones, but puppies do not count. This puppy is no pirate, it is just a warm little baby desperate for attention. After striking her deal with the pirate - Vaas - Alice only had about two minutes with her friends. She had rushed to them and hugged them as their ties were cut off, whispering feverishly to them to go away, hide, go to a town, forget about her, and never try to leave the island or they would be hunted down and killed. She'd hugged Jessica's tiny body, all shaken with tears, and bits of blood and brains had become tangled in her hair as she'd held Tim and said her goodbyes. And all too soon, they'd had to go, disappearing into the jungle, and she would probably never hear of them again.

Alice picks up the puppy and hugs it, burying her nose into its soft, warm body. The puppy starts wagging its tail furiously, overwhelmed with joy at the sudden attention.

"You smell" she tells him, and he tries to lick her face. "Smelly boy," she cooes, rubbing his belly. 

True to his word, the pirate is letting her walk around the camp, and, despite insisting on having her sleep in the bed in his shack he has not joined her once. Not yet, that is, Alice wonders how long it will take him to grow tired of their little arrangement. She has no doubt that he will break his word. She does realise, however, that his madness is her salvation.

That morning, as she got up, Alice found Vaas sleeping on the couch. Admittedly, the gesture did touch her a bit, but she knows much better than to trust the psycho based on one nice, no, decent thing he may have done. At present, she is doing a pretty good job shutting down her mind to everything that has happened and focusing solely on the ugly dog in her lap. Perhaps she will visit Dr Earnhardt in the morning? Maybe even spend the night there? Would Vaas allow that?  
"What do you think?" She whispers to the puppy.

Suddenly, there are footsteps approaching her and she knows instantly who they belong to. Alice puts the puppy down, trying to school her face. The agreement said that she should show no fear, and she will try her best. A great shadow covers her and the dog, the latter looking up in confusion.

"How are you, nena?" Asks Vaas.

Granted, she can tell he is making an effort to soften his tone when he speaks to her. She still has yet to understand how his psychosis works. Does he truly believe her to be a mermaid? Does he truly believe she will fall in love with him? Does he not realise all the wrong he is doing her? Is this all just a sick game? Is he fucking with her mind?  
She forces herself to look up to him, and smile.

"I'm good, thank you. How are you?" 

Her question seems to catch him a bit off guard, and for a second he has a startled look on his face. He recovers quickly, and mistakes her attempt at hiding her fear and disgust for an invitation to sit next to her, which he does.

"Not too bad" he smiles, settling by her side. Alice does her best not to shuffle away. The puppy starts sniffing Vaas' shoes.

"This dog is fucking ugly," comments the pirate, "you like this dog?"

"He's just a puppy," shrugs Alice. "He's very friendly."

"Good job he's friendly, 'cause with that ugly face he ain't never gonna get any pussy." He gently pushes the puppy's nose. "Look at that. It's like someone shut the door on his face or something."

Despite herself, Alice lets out a quiet snort which she tries to hide behind her hand. If he's heard her, the pirate doesn't show.

They remain silent for what feels like an eternity. Alice is struggling with herself. Her brain is telling her to get on the pirate's good side, while her guts are screaming at her not to give him any form of hope whatsoever, anything at all which may be interpreted as consent in that sick mind of his. She wants to go to the doctor's house but is afraid to ask. What if he decides it is a favour and she should repay him somehow?   
Eventually, as she is about to speak, he breaks the silence himself.

"I saw you talking with Sophie" he tells her.

"Sophie?"

"Sophie. The American girl with the black hair."

"Oh! She said her name was Jennifer."

"Yeah she does that. What were you talking about?"

"I just... I asked her if she lived here. And how long she's been here. She seemed very upset."

"She don't live here, nena. You're the only woman that actually lives here. The others don't stay long."

Alice is burning with questions. One of them being, what makes her so different? Instead, she asks:

"Do... Do the other pirates not have girlfriends?"

Surprisingly, Vaas fails to respond immediately, as if he is weighing his words carefully.

"The other pirates aren't looking for girlfriends." He says, throwing her a side look. "I wasn't neither, until I met my mermaid." He gives her what is meant to be a charming smile, but it feels more ominous than anything. How many 'mermaids' were there before her? "They're not all as sentimental as me." There are dried blood stains on his shirt and trousers.

"Is Jennifer, or Sophie... What is she doing here? What will happen to her?"

"She's leaving soon, she's been bought."

This time, Alice looks at him.

"Bought?"

He just nods, his face serious. He is looking right back at her, holding her gaze. For the first time, Alice gets a real look at his face. It is rough with stubble, sharp edges, a badly shaved head around a black Mohawk. That huge scar runs from the back of his head all the way to his eyebrow. His eyes are circled with black, but they are green, a darkish green. She'd always assumed his eyes were brown.

"I can't tell you where she's going."

Alice breaks eye contact, looks down. She knows she is scowling but she cannot help herself. She has absolutely no doubt as to what will happen to that girl.

"Do not cry for her, sirenita" he tells her, and once again his voice is all soft and loving. Alice is having none of it. This whole situation is making her sick. She is no longer listening to her brains, just her guts. How far can she push him? How much does it take for him to break the nice guy act?

"This is nonsense. Why aren't you selling me? What's so different about me? I could easily have been that girl."

His face loses its good humour and grows hard and menacing again as he dips his head towards hers. His hot breath brushes her lips.

"You", he starts, and there is hardly contained anger simmering low in his voice, "are nothing like other women. You are a fucking mermaid. My fucking mermaid. And nobody is selling you."

And just as suddenly, he leans back, and all the tension is broken. He pulls a cigar out of his pocket and lights it with a match. Alice turns her face in disgust when the first fumes reach her.

"Ok so, don't get attached to the goods, ok? They never stay long. You can have that ugly dog though, no way anyone is ever going to buy that. You'd have to be into some freaky shit."

He searches somewhere to his right, and retrieves a bag she had not noticed yet.

"This is for you." He is all smiles again. "All of it." He stands, and jogs away. "See you later!"

She watches him run to his men, hitting one in the genitals on the way. The puppy tries sniffing into the bag, which Alice picks up and opens. It is full of clothes! Women's clothes, it seems. She has been wearing hers for days now and she is getting sick of them. It is as if they are so full of filth that they have turned into leather. Sticky, moist leather. Occasionally, they even get itchy.  
As she rummages through the bag, trying not to get too excited, Alice starts noticing that something seems a bit wrong. Scratch that, something is awfully wrong. She pulls out a shirt, and there are three holes accross it. Big red stains on the back. There is a pair of shorts, the button and zip broken as if they had been ripped open. Alice searches frantically through the clothes. Blood. Rips. Tears. Each piece of clothing tells of a tale of murder and torture.

And she is to wear it all.


	7. The Sexiest Word

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for the continued support :) especially to anyone who comments, because I know that's time consuming so please know I really appreciate it :)
> 
>  
> 
> I'm excited about this chapter because I think it sort of paves the way for Alice's character development, and also it is going to help me set up for an explosive confrontation scene next chapter (which I've already written because I'm sad like that). Also I'm pleased with the title of it.
> 
> Hope you enjoy, and hope you stay tuned in!!

As much as possible, Alice tries to spend time at the doctor's mansion. Sometimes she helps him in the greenhouse, sometimes she just sits somewhere and listen to him ramble nonsensical monologues, and sometimes she picks up a book and reads about mushrooms and plants. She wishes she had a notebook to take notes on. Alice has always been one of those kids, and later young adults, who genuinely enjoy school and like to just sit there all day listening to someone telling them about things. The doctor, although he is at first a bit taken aback by her constant presence, eventually seems to grow used to her, and Alice quickly realises that he is constantly more or less high, and that he may not even be a doctor at all. Occasionally, he calls her Agnes instead of Alice, especially when he consumes a certain kind of mushrooms. He doesn't ask many questions, and Alice is quite happy with that. When the sun is about to set, he reminds Alice that she should drive home before it is night. Upon returning to camp, Alice usually finds Vaas waiting on the porch of his shack, cigar in hand. Sometimes, he isn't there, and she hears him terrorising hostages somewhere nearby. She does her best to be friendly to him, and she has to admit that he has yet to show any form of violence towards her. Nor is he putting any pressure on her to consume their relationship, if you can call it that. She is aware of the fact that she is being treated well, better than she could ever have expected.

Apart from the fact that he has abducted her, killed her friend, tortured her other friends, stolen all her belongings, sold her passport, prevented her from so much as giving her parents a sign of life, and that he has pretty much stolen her future.

After a few days, the doctor starts speaking to her with a bit more ease, and gives her tips and extra information about plants and mushrooms. He seems particularly focused on their hallucinogenic properties, but Alice makes sure to ask about healing and poisonous properties too. 

One evening, it starts to rain and the doctor tells her she cannot leave. He tells her that he needs to contact Vaas to let him know, and at that exact moment his phone rings and sure enough it is Vaas on the other end. The doctor seems to listen more than he speaks, and Alice can hear him saying the words "I swear" and "you have my word" at least four or five times.

When he returns, she can hardly contain her glee when he confirms that she will have to stay the night, and that Vaas has agreed to it. 

It is pouring it down, warm rain hitting the ground and the leaves so hard that all the other noises of the jungle are drowned by it. The doctor goes inside his house, but Alice chooses to stay out. She goes to sit on the long chair under the beautiful garden pavilion overlooking the sea. It is her first night away from the pirate camp, and it feels like utter freedom.

"I thought I might join you".

She jumps. She had not heard the doctor come to her, dragging a long chair with him and carrying a bottle of rum and two glasses. Despite the torrential rain it is not windy, and the two of them are sheltered under the pavilion.

"Rum?" He offers, and she surprises herself by accepting.

"Shrooms?" He then offers, and this time she politely declines.

"Thank you, but I think rum will do for now."

"Wise girl!" He laughs, before using rum to help him swallow some purplish pill.

They sit in silence for a while, listening to the tropical rain.

Dr Earnhardt does not let her glass get any further than half empty, and with the soft dull of alcohol, Alice starts forgetting her caution. She wants to ask the doctor why his clothes are dirty, why he takes drugs, why he lives on the island, who Agnes is, what is Vaas' deal exactly... She even feels like talking about her family.

"Alice," 

The doctor leans towards her, his elbow slipping on the arm of his chair.

"Where are you from, girl?"

"England" she replies. "Sort of."

"Sort of?" 

They both giggle.

"My dad is English, that's where I grew up. My mum is Swedish."

"Aaa ah! Sweden! Where is she from exactly?"

"Stockholm."

The doctor bursts out laughing, sinking back into his chair.

"Fitting!" He says, but refuses to extend when Alice presses him for an explanation. A few more minutes pass, Alice's glass gets a refill.

"It's nice to see a fellow Englishman... Of sorts." His hazy gaze turns to the darkened horizon, his voice faraway. "I had a Swedish boat. I sailed across the oceans. I've seen so many places, been through so many storms."

"It must have been amazing."

"I can't say I've enjoyed it. The boat did well, it only gave up when I got here."

"What was her name?"

"Hm?"

"The boat, I mean. What was her name?"

For a second, it looks as if the doctor is ignoring Alice's question.

"Agnes" he eventually replies, and his voice breaks. 

Bending forward, he shuffles through his trouser pockets and retrieves another purple berry. His distress is so evident that Alice feels herself welling up, aided by the alcohol in her blood.  
She doesn't know what to say. She tries changing the subject.

"Looks like it's brightening up!" She sighs, looking at the ever so grey skies.

"What a British thing to say!" Grumbles Dr Earnhardt, but she can tell he is more amused than annoyed.

"Dr Earnhardt-"

"Just call me Alec."

"Really?" She throws him a contagious grin.

He shrugs, still grumpy.

"Alec," she says with emphasis, "do you... Do you know what Vaas intends to do with me?"

The doctor forgets his annoyance and stares at her with a very sober look.

"And what could you possibly mean?"

"I mean... What are his plans? Why am I still alive, why haven't I been sold? Why is he striking deals with me? Why am I being kept here if it isn't for..." ...for him to use me as his sex slave, her mind finishes for her.

"This is a very dangerous conversation to have. You should not be going round asking these questions."

"I'm not going round, I'm just asking you. Because I trust you."

"You shouldn't trust anyone on this island, Alice. We're all mad here. You must be mad too, otherwise you wouldn't have come here."

"Please, Alec. I can't... I need to understand what is going on."

"I would give up on that as soon as possible if I were you."

"Please! At least, just tell me what you think. I won't tell!"

The doctor looks like he is about to refuse again, when his eyes suddenly widen, and he looks at her like he is seeing her for the first time. No, in fact, it is as if he is recognising her, except it is clearly not her his eyes are seeing.

"Fine. I... Vaas is a complex entity, a lot more complex than he first appears. He is by far the maddest of us all. In time, you will meet Buck, you may meet Hoyt, you will meet yourself again in a few months, you will see a lot of mad on this island. But Vaas, he is on another level of madness entirely. Nothing is certain, nothing is predictable when Vaas is concerned." He shifts in his seat, throws a paranoid look around. "I don't know what you did to him. I don't want to know what happened, but something did, and now his madness has somehow made you a centre point of his mind."

"He says I'm a mermaid."

"Lower your voice, will you?! I said I don't want to know the details! Vaas... In everything he does, he is driven by pure madness. If he decides something, there is no going back. You don't come back from that level of mad, Agnes. I have not seen him this devoted to anyone for a long time."

"So there were others before me? Other girls?"

"No, no, not like that. There was his sister, many years ago. And there is Hoyt, although he certainly does not call him nena or anything of the sort. Listen, I don't know what this is, I don't want to be involved in it, but if I were you I would try to make the most of my circumstances. You," he grabs Alice's hands, squeezes them. "Have Vaas' madness in your hands. If you play your cards well, you will no longer be in danger, you will be the danger, do you see? Hoyt had better watch his back."

He lets go of her hands, takes one last frantic look around them, as if he is expecting Vaas or Hoyt to jump out of the jungle.

"So... Are you saying I should try to... Manipulate Vaas? Into doing what I want?"

"Oh no, not like that. The biggest mistake you could ever make is underestimate Vaas. He may be mad, but he is no idiot. You won't outwit him. He's kind of a mastermind, in his own way. However, if you were to have him as an ally, you know, keep him keen... Then there would be no stopping you."

"No stopping me as long as I don't leave the island."

"It's not so bad here. Never boring.'

"And what exactly do you mean by 'keep him keen'"? Enquiries Alice, and the rum makes her eyebrows wiggle suggestively.  
The doctor guffaws.

"Well, I'll answer this with a riddle." He leans once again towards her, and Alice does not flinch when his stench, a mixture of sweat,dirt and drugs, reaches her. "What is the sexiest word in the world? Just one word. Think carefully."

She stares back, as if trying to extract the answer from his dilated pupils.

"No." She says, triumphant. Out of the corner of her eyes, the world has started spinning.

"Not bad, not bad. But not sexy enough. Try again."

"Yes?"

The doctor shakes his head, then motions for her to come closer. He cups her ear, and whispers:

"The sexiest word in the world, my dear Alice, is..."

The rain has stopped, the jungle creatures have returned. Gunshots in the distance. Alice's head is pulsating, as if her heart has relocated in her brains.

"... Perhaps."


	8. What Mermaids Wish For

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hallo.
> 
> Here moar.
> 
> Feel free to comment ;) 
> 
> Hope you enjoy, thank you so much for reading.

"Wake up."

There's a light breeze on her face.

"Wake up."

She blinks, the skyline and pavilion come into view.

"Good morning sunshine."

When she recognises the voice, Alice jerks awake, her eyes focus on Vaas' face, a few inches from hers.

He laughs.

"I swear nena, you were sleeping so deeply, so sweetly, you were like Sleeping Beauty!"

He turns away from her, and she notices that he looks even worse than usual, if that's even possible. He mustn't have slept at all. Or he is extremely high. Most likely both.

"You enjoying the view? It's a nice fucking view. That why you come here so often?"

She nods.

"Huh?" He is cupping his ear, his tone aggressive. Something is wrong this morning, he looks angry. Agitated.

"I do enjoy the view."

"Yeah?" He laughs without any humour. He's never sounded so mad.

"Is everything ok?" She asks him, before remembering her conversation with the doctor. Keep him keen. "Vaas?" She uses her softest voice, dismisses all fear.

He looks right back at her, stares, harshly, into her eyes. He stands, walks around like some sort of caged animal. Alice remembers the nightmare she had when he'd lunged at her like a tiger.

"Do you remember," he starts, quietly. He sits where Dr Earnhardt had sat he night before, very close to Alice. Their knees are almost touching. "The terms of our agreement? Huh? Do you remember, nena? Our deal?"

"Yes, I do."

"Do you?" He laughs again, and there is no joy in his eyes. It is the most terrifying thing Alice has ever seen. "Because to me, nena, Alice, it looks like you don't remember anything at all. You see, " he shuffles even closer, his hands holding an invisible contract. "The deal said that I would let your friends live. Have I done that?"

"Yes". Screw confidence. Her voice is trembling, her hands hold onto the long chair.

"Number two was that I protect you. Am I doing that?"

"Yes."

"Huh?"

"Yes, you are, you are protecting me." 

"Number 3, you wanted to move around. Come here, to the doctor's house. Now you're doing that, and you're doing that a lot. Every single fucking day. That right?"

"Yes. Vaas, I'm sor-"

"And finally, you asked me not to force you into anything sexual. Look at me." This time, his face is so close that their noses are nearly touching. "Am I forcing you into anything sexual?"

"No." 

"No. So would it be fair to say, that I am fulfilling my part of the deal?"

"Yes it would be fair, very fair."

"Yes. And what was your part of the deal? Can you remember that?"

"I..." She feels like crying. She's sure that this time, this time, he is going to hit her. Maybe rape her. Kill her, definitely.

"I was going t-to try my best to f-fall..."

"Say it. Look at me. Look me in the eye. Say it."

"To fall in love with you."

"That's right. That's right, nena. See, I thought you'd forgotten! I thought, maybe she's forgotten, you know, because if not, then how is she expecting to fulfil her part of the deal if. She. Is. NEVER FUCKING THERE!!"

When the explosion comes, Alice has been expecting it, and to her credit she does not flinch. Vaas stands up and starts pacing the pavilion again, looking like he needs to hit something. Someone. Her, possibly.

"FUCK!!" He shouts, punching the air. "FUCK!!!"

He slows down, lets out another chilling laugh, crouches in front of her. She shuts her knees a bit tighter.

"It's not like I'm not trying, you know? I'm doing my part. I'm being patient. Look at me. Fuck, I don't like this look on your face. What did we say about this look on your face? huh?"

"I... I'm sor- I'm really-please, I-" she can feel the tears on her cheeks now, but she absolutely cannot calm herself. She is far too scared to even say full words anymore.

"We said, we said no looking scared. You're looking scared right now nena, scared as fuck. We said, no looking scared, no saying sorry or please." He opens his arms, gives her a half smile. "So you see, to me it looks like I'm doing all the work here, and you're not doing your share at all. That ain't fair, right?"

Alice decides that now she will just look down, stop trying to save herself. There's no stopping that level of mad, is what the doctor said. Crazy thing is, she feels she can hardly blame him, his arguments seem to make sense. She is annoyed with herself, she's shot herself in the leg there.  
She hears him shuffling awkwardly. When he speaks again, he's adopted the soft tone he usually maintains when addressing her.

"I can see you're really sorry, nena. I'm going to chill, I'm not going to get mad, ok? I'm going to give you another chance."

She can hear the smile in his voice.

"I don't want to see you cry today, sirenita. Today is a special day for you, and I got a surprise for you."

"A sp-a special day?"

"It's your birthday. And I got you a present."

She looks at him, and he is all smiles again, looking at her like he loves her, like she's not scared he might kill her any second.

"I spent all night thinking about it. I thought to myself 'Vaas, what could a mermaid possibly want for her birthday?' And the answer came to me like a, like a revelation or something. A mermaid... She'd want a swim!" 

He claps his hands, jumps up.

"We're going for a swim today nena. I'm going to take you some place nice. We're gonna spend the day together, you know, have a swim, then we're gonna have a romantic dinner together. I brought you some flowers. Here." 

And sure enough, there is a bunch of flowers on the floor, and Vaas picks them up and hands them to her. A few sweet smelling white flowers, huge, red blooms, and a couple of spiky yellow ones.

"Do you like the flowers I brought you?"

"Thank you, they're beautiful."

"They're not as beautiful as you. I picked them myself... Like I did with you." He chuckles to himself. "I brought you some clothes for today nena. I went through your stuff, I would have asked you but you know, you weren't there. So I'm going to give you ten minutes. In ten minutes, I want you dressed, I want you ready, I want you happy, I want you swimming."

He stands.

"Happy birthday mi amor."

 

Vaas has chosen a blue summer dress and a yellow swimsuit which Alice recognises, because she's seen it on Jennifer a few days ago. She guesses that this means Jennifer/Sophie has finally been sent to her buyer. Maybe that means that she's finally become Sophie for real. 

But Alice does not care about Jennifer at the minute. She is all absorbed in herself, and how close to death she thinks she's just been. Vaas has somehow decided to give her another chance, and Dr Earnhardt's words are in her mind as she tries to tame her hair and make herself look nice. She's got to be more careful. The doctor is right, she has been given a good hand in her misery and if she plays her cards well she may survive this place yet. She may even survive Vaas.  
The dress isn't torn or bloody, just a bit muddy, and the swimsuit smells like Jennifer did when Alice last saw her. It may have been gold rather than yellow. Alice is far bustier than Jennifer is -was? - and the swimsuit molds tightly around her breasts and squashes them together, which is probably a good thing.

You can do this, she tells herself. Remember, it's not yes, it's perhaps. You can do this. You just need to keep him keen until you find a way out of this hell. 

You can do this.


	9. Such a Lovely Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woop woop!!
> 
> More comments and kudos!! ^^ I'm so happy!!
> 
> Thank you thank you :) please keep them coming ;) ;)
> 
> Anyway, on with the story. Hope you enjoy! Here's such a lovely day.

When she walks out, Alice finds the pirate sitting on a stone outside the doctor's house.

"That was fifteen minutes, but I forgive you." He tells her, good humoured. "Perfection takes time. Come on, get in the car, let's go."

As he drives, Vaas likes to listen to music, and more often than not he sings along happily. Sometimes he turns the music off and chats to Alice instead, hardly expecting much on her part, for which she is thankful. They pass by many outposts and Alice starts to get a clearer idea of just how many pirates are on the island. And they all work for Vaas.

They drive in the jungle for a while, and suddenly emerge onto a track road overlooking the shimmering turquoise sea. 

"Wow!" Breathes Alice, unable to contain herself.

Vaas is overjoyed. 

"I tell you, you're gonna like this sirenita, me and you are gonna have a good day! I'm gonna make you feel real good nena."

He drives them a bit further on, and eventually stops the car amidst some trees and bushes. He picks a huge, handmade looking rucksack from the boot and sets off walking.

"Let's walk from here. Stay close. As close as you like."

Alice walks behind him, glad for the sneakers Dr Earnhardt has given her. 

"Not far now." He calls.

He is fast, she appreciates that now. She has always known that he is fairly athletic, but she is no weakling herself. She has not been swimming in over a week now, but she shouldn't have been losing her stamina so soon. And yet, Alice is struggling to keep up during their leisurely stroll through the jungle. He's said he was taking her swimming, and Alice is in fact looking forward to that. She is a little bit worried though, because each of his surprises so far has been rather... Bloody.

'I'm gonna make you feel real good, nena' his words rang in her mind along with several warning bells.

Is he planning on swimming with her? She doesn't see any swimwear on him. Does he swim in the nude? He certainly sleeps in the nude, that she has learnt the hard way by foolishly deciding to go to the bathroom before having heard him leave the shack one morning. He also never wears underwear, she's learnt from accidentally catching him getting dressed. He masturbates often, brushes his teeth religiously, loves watching films and cannot get enough of the sound of his own voice. 

Basically, the whole shack without doors situation is putting Alice through all new levels of awkward.

Eventually, they break out of the woods and onto what turns out to be a creek. A breathtaking, awe inspiring creek. The sand is white and heads free, the water a bright turquoise which melts into a deep blue, and this gorgeous pond is sheltered by steep, emerald cliffs before opening into the sea.

"Oh." Says Alice.

Vaas is already halfway to the water, but he stops there, removes his military boots then retrieves a small camera recorder from his pocket.

"Ok nena this is where I go to swim, you like it?"

"It's amazing."

Despite the beauty of the place, Alice's fears are returning. She knows there is no underwear under those trousers.  
Utterly oblivious, Vaas' face cracks into a wide smile and he opens the recorder.

"Let's make some memories" he declares. The red light comes on and Vaas starts talking to it.

"Ok, welcome back to my show. We are here today...with a special guest. Today, internet peoples, I introduce you to my mermaid." He points a finger at the lens. "Now you better be polite, show respect, because if not, I know where you live hermano." He smiles. "Here she is!" 

When the lens turns to her, Alice isn't ready. She has no idea what he expects her to do.

"Say hello sirenita." Urges Vaas.

"Hello sirenita."

By sheer luck, Vaas seems to think that this is the most hilarious joke he's heard in weeks.

"She's so funny. Look at her, she's so beautiful. It's her birthday today, I'm taking her to have a swim. Cause she's a mermaid you know."

He walks towards her, puts an arm around her shoulders but doesn't quite touch her. He is awfully close though, and she can smell him. Smoke, sweat. He holds the recorder up, selfie style.  
When he is certain that they are both in the shot, he turns his face to hers and says, in a low voice:

"Enjoy your swim, mermaid. Don't you be swimming away."

She plays along, responds with a smile, they exchange a knowing look for the camera. He turns the recorder off.

He takes a few steps back and Alice can catch her breath. 

"Ok, you can swim as long as you want, but stay in this creek. There's sharks further on, adult ones. You'll see little ones in the water but they won't attack you. The big ones don't hunt here because that's where the young ones are, you see? Enjoy yourself."

This said, Vaas sits on the sand and motions for her to go to the water. Alice takes a few hesitant steps forward, stops to kick off her shoes. She reaches the water and when it curls around her toes it is the most delicious sensation in the world. She sighs. One last look behind her confirms two things : Vaas is staying where he is, and yes, he is still staring at her. The girl can even make out a slightly cheeky smile on his lips, as if he knows she is embarrassed at the idea of undressing in front of him.

You can do this. Play your cards well, Alice, you can do this. You'll play your way out of this. 

Without looking at him, she walks back towards the beach,picks up her shoes and drops them next to him, although at a safe distance. She then, deliberately, though not slowly enough to arouse suspicion, lifts the dress off her legs, thighs, stomach, chest, then over her head. She flicks her hair as she folds the dress neatly before depositing it as gracefully as possible on top of her shoes. She even goes so far as to adjust the swimsuit around her breasts and on her bum before she risks a look at him.

The cheeky smile is gone.

She holds his gaze for a second too long to be purely accidental, then makes her way to the water.  
Although she absolutely does not dare to attempt even the subtlest swaying of the hips, Alice still makes a conscious effort not to pat her way to the water like a fat duck.

He wants a mermaid? He'll get a mermaid. She'll be any kind of mermaid he wants if that means she can work him into doing what she needs to escape. Really, it isn't that hard. A perhaps will keep him keen, at least long enough to think of an escape route.

As she walks into the water though, all evil plans abandon her mind and are replaced by the sheer joy of being able to swim again. The water licks around her legs, molds around her stomach, caresses her chest, shelters her shoulders. Alice dips her head back and the water makes its way through her long hair, cools her scalp, and another sigh escapes her. She closes her eyes in bliss. 

One final look to the beach reassures her that Vaas isn't making any movement towards the water, and she notices that he is now clutching her dress between his fingers. He fixes her with an intense look in his eyes.

She'll worry about that later, because for now, the mermaid gets to swim.

Ever since she was a little girl, Alice has always been extremely fond of swimming, especially under water. She can spend hours in the water, and has been training herself to hold her breath every single day since she was little.  
Today, Alice knows that from then on she will have to spend more time with Vaas, put up a stronger act, actively work towards an escape while keeping the pirate happy and unaware. She cannot just jump on him, though, he would definitely see right through her. She's got to take it slow and steady, but Alice also knows she is no actress. She'd always be given the role of the tree, or the cloud, in school plays.

Alice stays in the water for a few hours, lost in her thoughts, alternating between swimming lengths from one cliff to the other, floating around to take a rest, and diving as deep as possible to swim along the bottom and listen to the silence.  
As for Vaas, the pirate remains sitting down for a bit, then he stands and walks to the edge, goes back, leans back on his elbow, plays with his recorder, rummages through his bag, but does not join her.

When eventually Alice makes her way back, determined to start with her brand new, brave, proactive, freedom seeking "perhaps" attitude, Vaas stares at her unabashedly as she walks to him.

"You're looking very hot right now" he tells her, and there is no definite indication of whether he means sexy or too warm, so Alice doesn't know if she should say thank you.

"You too." She tells him, making sure to sound as ambiguous as he has.

He stands and gives her a sarung which she wraps around herself. Come on, Alice thinks, be polite at least. You're British, you were born to get a brown nose.

"Thank you very much, Vaas, it was amazing. This place is gorgeous and I had a really great swim."

Impulsively, Alice reaches out and grabs his hand to give it a squeeze. His eyebrows shoot up but he says nothing. His hand feels warm and rough, strong. She smiles at him, and as she attempts to drop his hand, his hold on hers tightens and he, gently but surely, pulls her hand to his face and presses it to his lips for a bit longer than necessary.

"You're welcome." He says against her knuckles. As he lets go of her hand he taps his finger to his temple and adds: "this means I can hold your hand from now on, you know that?"

I didn't kiss your hand, Alice wants to say, but instead she just nods. "Perhaps" says the doctor in her head.

Alice uses the sarung to mop up most of the water from her hair while Vaas starts setting up what looks a picnic blanket (it has burn and blood stains on it, of course) and pulls out some food from his bag.

"Ok Alice sit here, you must be hungry? Have some food."

Alice sits opposite him, still in her swimsuit. Vaas has brought fruit and some smoked, dry meat. He's also cut open a coconut with a machete that now lies at Alice's left. As often, the girl only notices she is hungry once she starts eating, and soon enough she has eaten two bananas and a full mango, drank half of the coconut, and is now turning her attention towards the dry meat.

"I'm happy to see you're eating your food," comments Vaas. "I fucking hate picky people. Food is food you know. Just fucking eat it."

"I agree" she says, and means. "Although it is nice to cook something a bit different sometimes."

"You like cooking?"

"I do. And you?"

"Sometimes yeah, but it's hard to find the time you know. Usually we just have a big meat barbecue at the camp with the others."

"What sort of meat do you eat?"

"All sorts of meat."

Alice nods. This is going well, she thinks. They are having an actual, normal conversation. About food, as well, and it turns out they both like cooking. That's something that will help her situation, no doubt, at least she'll always have something to talk about. Her mind accidentally pictures big bad Vaas with an apron on and no trousers, and she stifles a laugh.  
She takes a good bite of the meat to distract her thoughts, chews carefully and swallows before taking another bite.

"You like it?" Enquiries Vaas.

"It's lovely. What kind of meat is it?"

"What do you think it is?"

"I can't really tell, to be honest. Pork?"

"Close." And he smiles like he knows some sort of dirty secret.

Alice starts feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"So... Is it boar?"

"Nope." He looks at the piece he is holding, and takes a big bite. "It's very good meat, full of protein. It's gonna make you strong." He chews, gestures for her to take another piece, which she does.

Despite herself, Alice is starting to feel rather uneasy, wondering what the meat could be. She'd thought it was pork, or beef, but now she really doesn't know anymore. Could it be dog? Could it be her dog? Surely not, she thinks, Vaas thought he was ugly, he wouldn't eat that puppy. He wouldn't. Would he?

"It tastes good, no?"

"Yes."

Is he being defensive?

"I was just trying to work out what it was. It's going to bug me all night now." She tries to laugh it off, one last desperate attempt at coaxing the truth out of him. It works.

"It's a special meat that I like to call... Hollywood Agent. It's rich, it's smoked, but it's got a lot of fat you know."

"Hollywood Agent? Why would you-?"

But suddenly she fears that she understands, and the shock of it narrows around her stomach and clutches at it like his fingers had cluthed at her dress earlier. There's a vein twitching at the corner of her eye. She drops her gaze, looks at the piece of meat in her hand. It looks so ordinary.

She cannot possibly put it back. She shoves the whole thing into her mouth and uses the back of her hand to keep herself from being tempted to spit it out. She chews at it, trying to ignore the flavours, and looks out to the sea. There's going to be a beautiful, firy sunset any time soon.

He's got to be lying. He's got to be playing her. It was pork, or maybe boar. Maybe dog, whatever. He's testing her, he's gauging her reaction. It can't be right.

She swallows, drinks more coconut juice. She can hear him chewing on his piece of meat.

He's testing her. It can't be human meat. He's trying to get a reaction, and he won't get one.

The sunset commences, and it is as bright and glorious as she's expected. It has been such a nice day! She thinks with desperation. She's turned 24 today. She's had a wonderful swim, and has a plan set up for the future. The sunset is a thing of wonders. Food is food, he said. And she agreed with him.

He's got to be lying, he's got to be. He's got to be.

Alice doesn't notice when he shuffles closer to her. She doesn't feel it when he puts his heavy hand on hers. Food is food.

The sunset is burning tears in her eyes. What a nice day she's had. Protein is good for you.

He's got to be lying.

He's got to be.


	10. Sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU for your kind, kind words, and amazing support and encouragement on this story. I really appreciate your help with this. Thank you so much and I hope I don't disappoint :)
> 
> I am excited to post the next chapter, the one that comes after this one, and should have it up tomorrow. In the meantime, here's this one!

The next day, Alice mourns silently as she decides not to go to Dr Earnhardt 's house. Usually, Alice would wait around in bed until she heard Vaas leave, but today, she gets dressed and ready and walks into the room where Vaas sleeps. He is up, of course, and lacing his shoes. 

"Good morning," she calls,and he looks up.

"Good morning." He stands, picks up a handgun and a machete from the table and puts them in their holsters. "How are you today?"

"Very well thank you."

"Hungry?"

She stares, trying to determine whether he is taunting her.

"No I'm fine thank you. I think I ate too much last night." Well. That's one way to put it.

He chuckles. "Are you going to the doctor's house today?"

He's not even waiting for her answer, starting to make his way out.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could maybe spend the day with you? If that's ok?" 

He stops.

"You want to spend the day with me?"

"Yeah, well, you know... It's the deal isn't it?"

Wow, real smooth, Alice, she chastises herself, but Vaas does not seem to mind.

"Ok." He nods to himself. "Alright." He walks towards her and into the bedroom, and when he comes out again he is holding a small red piece of cloth. "Wear this."

Alice recognises it: red is the colour everyone in the camp seems to wear. She guesses that wearing it will definitely set her apart from the other hostages. The other pirates know who she is by now, they never speak to her but they leave her alone as she crosses the camp or drives away. The piece of red cloth is more probably destined at the hostages, to make them see her as a captor. A conspirator, a traitor. A tormentor. He wants her to feel different. No, not different. Isolated.

"Could you help me tie it up?" She asks him, and he does.

They walk out. Vaas is a couple of steps away from her, but he constantly checks above his shoulder to see if she is still following. There are pirates everywhere, guarding the camp, sitting down, chatting, smoking, drinking, they all carry heavy weapons and look like they come from all over the world. Alice hears at least five different languages, English included, and the shack is only a few feet away. After meeting Vaas and Carlos she had assumed that the pirates were all Hispanic, but now she sees how wrong she's been. Some look native, some are Hispanic, some speak German, Somali... It suddenly occurs that she has no real idea where Vaas is from. His name doesn't sound Hispanic to her, but then again she is no expert.

"Ok so," starts Vaas, and he motions around them. "This is the main area, where we hang out, where we sleep." It is as if he is giving her a tour. "Then over there we have the kitchens,food storage, barbecue fire, all that." Alice wonders if 'food storage' includes any more Hollywood Producer meat. "My garden is over there."

"You have a garden?"

"Yeah. I'm not going to show you though because I don't want to give you nightmares, nena."

They walk between more wooden shacks and climb up some steps to an elevated area.

"This morning we are going to do a little bit of torture ok? We're visiting a new batch of slaves. We got to prepare a little summary for Hoyt, to let him know what the goods are ok?"

She nods absentmindedly. Slaves? Goods? Did he say torture?

"Just a little bit." Says Vaas, and Alice realises she's spoken aloud. The wooden steps are a bit wobbly and Alice focuses on not tripping. As they reach the top she suddenly hears pleas and muffled screams. 

There are eight people hung by their wrists, their feet barely touching the ground. Two women and six men. Two of the men seem to have wet theirs trousers. One of them, Alice realises with horror, looks like he's only about 17 or 18. Several pirates are guarding the hostages - victims? Should she call them victims? Should she call them dinner?

"Hello!" Chants Vaas.

The show is on. Alice stays by the side as Vaas walks around like it's Christmas time. He walks along the line of hostages, once, twice, hits one in the genitals. One of the two women has started sobbing.

"Welcome to my island. We're gonna play a little game. A game called The Weakest Link. We are going to see which one of you motherfuckers is the weakest link. Which one of you is going to break first. Ok?" 

The hostages stay quiet, exchange either worried or defiant looks. 

"California shits, skydiving down to my island, pissing on my sunshine..."

"Look man we didn't know this was your island, I swear." It's the guy with the glasses, his voice is shaking but to his credit he keeps going. "We know now, ok man, we get it, it's your place, and we shouldn't have come here. We'll just, we'll just go alright, we won't tell anyone!"

Vaas says nothing, just takes slow, deliberate steps towards the hostage.

"Look man we just wanna go home ok, we don't want any trouble."

The pirate's face is extremely close to that of the hostage.

"Look, we'll pay you, alright?"

Vaas lifts his hands up and cups the hostage's face, brushing his thumbs along his cheekbones, almost tenderly, as if he is about to kiss him.

"Oh you're gonna pay, motherfucker, you're gonna pay. But first," he smiles. "You're gonna shut the fuck up." 

There is a loud crunch as Vaas' head collides with the hostage's nose. And again. And again.  
Although she has been expecting violence, Alice is still extremely shaken. She hears the bones break. It's nothing, it's nothing.  
Vaas lets go of the man, takes a few steps back. There's blood rolling down his forehead, and it clearly isn't his. The hostage's glasses are broken and there is dark red blood pouring out of his nose and onto his mouth, neck, chest. The dark haired girl and the younger man both start crying into their shoulder. The blond boy being held right next to the one who has just had his nose broken shakes his head, starts muttering "oh my god" to himself.

"You talk when I tell you to talk." Says Vaas to the group. "The choices you have made in your life have brought you here today. I haven't decided yet what I'm gonna do with you. If your mama and papa have money, I will ransom you. If not..." He shrugs, smiles. "Que será, será".

He walks to the younger man, grabs his face roughly, forces him to look up.

"Look at me motherfucker. Stop crying you little pussy. Stop crying."

"Please, please...!"

"Shut the fuck up! Do not beg."

The hostage next to them, a bigger, more muscular man in his late twenties or early thirties, the only one to have been gagged, tries to kick at Vaas who easily jumps out of the way and returns to him with another headbut. The blond woman cries out like she's the one who's been hit.  
Vaas walks over to the girls and Alice holds her breath. 

"Don't cry, honey." He tells them. "Keep your tears for later, um?"

"Leave the girls alone, man, please! Don't hurt 'em" 

It's the other man, the one in the blue shirt, who has not spoken yet.

Vaas strides to him and punches him in the stomach so hard his feet leave the floor.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!" He explodes.

Alice's hand rises to her mouth, a nervous gesture she's inherited from her mother, and she settles for crossing her arms instead. The gesture has not gone unnoticed by the man with the glasses though, and he addresses her directly.

"Hey, are you with them? Please, you gotta do something..."

"Do NOT speak to her, hermano!" warns Vaas.

"Hey look we aren't bad people alright? We didn't mean to... We didn't know this was your island alright, please, please you gotta help us!"

"Hey! Hey, YOU FUCK!!"

"Vincent, man, just shut up!" Yells the guy who was punched in the stomach.

"Look they're gonna hurt the girls alright? Please, please help them, at least!" He pleads, and Alice feels herself growing faint. He's got brown eyes behind his glasses.

It is one thing deciding to pretend to side with Vaas to help her cause, but this, this is awful. People are begging her for their lives and there is nothing she can do. Or is there? Is she being a coward? Could she do something? Should she ask Vaas, have sex with him, beg for him to let them go? And what good would that do? More hostages would be brought, and Vaas hates people who beg. Wouldn't he lose interest in her if she started fighting him?

"I SAID" Vaas is by the hostage' side before he has time to even blink. "DO NOT". They hear the whistle of the machete as it leaves its holster. "SPEAK TO HER, HERMANO!". There is a tearing sound, gurgles, and the sound of something heavy and wet dropping to the floor. Alice's eyes leave the hostage's face and focus on the sky,the ceiling, anything. How many bamboo sticks does it take to build such a huge place? One,two, three, four... No, the best way to count it is to see how many there are on one side, then multiply it by... But will that work? Who built this? Would the pirates make it right, regular?   
After a few seconds of stunned, horrified silence, the hostages all start screaming, crying, swearing, fighting their binds. Vaas turns around, his trousers are covered in blood and guts. He goes to the next hostage,the blond guy in the yellow top, and digs the tip of his machete into his stomach, lifting a single finger to his pursued lips. The hostages stop their screams immediately. The blond guy is sobbing openly now, shaking his head in denial. Alice has backed away until she hit the railing. She is not finding the strenght to get her legs to run away.

"The weakest link," says Vaas, as if all is well. He points at the gutted man. "He couldn't shut the fuck up." He wipes his machete on one of the other men's t-shirt. "Couldn't follow a simple instruction. We'll play again tomorrow. Put them in the cages," he tells his men, "Hoyt is coming to have a look tonight." He gestures to Alice. "Come on nena let's go."

They walk down the steps and Alice does a good job at not letting herself think of what she's just witnessed, nor listening to the pleas and cries of the hostages as they are being taken away. Sorry, she thinks, I'm so, so sorry.

"He had some guts no?" Says Vaas, very casually.

"Not for long." Dryly replies Alice, and Vaas laughs, then grabs her hand and pulls her along.

"Hoyt is coming tonight, " explains Vaas. "But I don't think now is the right time for you to meet him, is that ok nena? You can just stay in and watch a movie or something."

"Y-yes of course, no problem. I'm sorry but who's Hoyt, please?"

He stops, turns to her. He bends slightly so he can look her in the eyes, and points two fingers at her. The gesture is rather intimidating, but the smile on his face is soft and his eyes have a playful glint to them.

"New rule. From now on, everytime you say sorry or please, I'm going to spank you."

"W-Wha-?"

"Until you learn. Comprende?"

Alice is not ready to agree to that, but Vaas just sets off walking again, looking extremely pleased with himself. He pulls a cigar out of nowhere and puts it between his lips.

"Hoyt is the boss here. He's a big deal. He leads the other island and I'm in charge of this one."

"So, is he your boss?"

As expected, this question makes Vaas uncomfortable. He does a sort of half nod and lets go of her hand.

"Let's get something to eat. I'm fucking hungry. Then we'll sort through their shit. You hungry?"

"No, I'm really not-"

"Vaas!" Calls a pirate.

"What?! You interrupted my mermaid, hermano, she was talking to me."

"The car' stuck in the mud." This one speaks with an accent Alice has not heard yet.

"Again?" Grumbles Vaas, changing their course as they now head towards a side entrance to the camp. "What did I tell you fuckers, I said it fucking rained like yesterday or some shit, don't drive the fucking cars through here when it's just fucking rained for fuck sake you know that hermano."

When they reach the side entrance, there is a vehicle that is indeed stuck in a big puddle of wet, bright amber mud.

"Ok, Carlos you get in the driver seat, you follow me motherfucker."

The pirate named Carlos gets in the car and starts the engine. Vaas and another pirate go to the back. They have mud up to their knees and prepare to push the car.

"Ok let's go!" Shouts Vaas, and Carlos sets the car off. At first, nothing much happen, but then the car angrily jumps forward and gets out of the puddle in an explosion of mud. When the smoke flies off and the mud falls back down, the car is out of the puddle, and Vaas and the other pirate are absolutely covered in liquid mud. Vaas spits out an impressive amount of it, his cigar hanging sadly from the corner of his mouth, and the other pirates surrounding them start laughing. Alice is unsure whether to laugh or not, Vaas and the other one do look like idiots, and there is something resembling a nervous breakdown bubbling inside her, threatening to come up to the surface any way it is allowed to. However, this is a ruthless, psychopathic killer, cannibal, and slaver, and laughing at him may not be the wisest move in the world.

"Look at this sorry motherfucker!" Laughs Vaas, pointing at the pirate next to him.

And for some reason, this is what does it. Is he this out of the world that he thinks he looks any better than the other guy? The nerves that have been choking at Alice's throat since the previous night, or since the previous week really, finally break free, and Alice bursts out laughing.  
And as she does, it is as if a huge weight leaves her, and her back straightens, the pressure in her chest starts to ease. Alice laughs.

"Oh you like that, huh?" Asks Vaas, and he is smiling under the dirt. His Mohawk has lost its shape.

Alice cannot stop, and soon enough there are tears building up in her eyes. In the front of the car, Carlos is laughing with her now.

"It's -! It's-!" Starts Alice as she points at Vaas, but she is unable to form a coherent sentence. More pirates start laughing along, clearly amused by her histeria.

"Look at her, she laughing at me now." Comments Vaas, but thankfully there isn't a trace of anger in his voice.

When Alice starts calming down, some sort of defiance, inspiration, or just plain madness takes possession of her and she says, loud and clear:

"Sorry."

There is a second of stillness,before Vaas sets off to her, tripping in the mud.

"I'm joking, I'm joking!!" Yells Alice, backing away. The pirate stops, points a finger at her. 

"You watch your mouth, nena!"

"I know, I know. Please, I'm so sorry."

He sets off again, falling over, and the pirates laugh.

"Just kidding!! I'm just kidding!"

Vaas has reached the edge of the puddle now, but everything stops when someone arrives at the scene and shouts, panicked:

"Vaas, Hoyt is here!"

The effect is instant. Everyone stops laughing, Carlos gets out of the car, and Vaas tries wiping the mud off his face.

"Fuck, he's early. Alright, let's go. Sirenita you get back to the shack ok? Watch a movie, have some food. Carlos you make sure she goes there. Come on motherfuckers let's go!!" 

 

There is a great deal of action going on, and Alice is ushered away by Carlos, not before taking a good look at Vaas' worried face. 

My god, she thinks, who the hell is Hoyt??

What kind of man scares Vaas??


	11. One, Two, Three, Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the growing support with this challenging story, it is extremely appreciated :)   
> Here is the next chapter (won't be updating this fast forever, I promise), and I hope you enjoy it.   
> Sh** is about to go down!!

The rest of the day, Alice is left alone in the shack, and when night comes Vaas doesn't arrive. She hangs around for a bit before deciding to go to bed. She realises that she truly isn't fond of this, it is like being back to square one, when she had to spend days waiting around in the shack, not knowing if Vaas was coming to hurt her. Not knowing Vaas' name. She shakes the thought off, tries to focus on the good things that happened, tries to think about her plan. She's got one, at least, she is heading somewhere. It's nothing like what it was a week or so ago, and this is a reassuring thought.

Eventually Alice drifts into a light sleep, interrupted by the crunching sound of a nose being broken. She sits up, looks wildly around the room but there is no one there. She counts four seconds then lies back down. She must have slept for a while, because the camp is fairly quiet, and there is hardly any light filtering through the bamboo walls and ceiling. At night, it is the insects that are the loudest, shrieking from up in the trees. Occasionally, there is shuffling in the bushes, and sometimes a creature runs along the roof. It is kind if scary how familiar these noises have become to Alice.

She sinks back into a peaceful sleep, when a loud, heavy, wet pile of something falls somewhere in the bathroom. Alice jerks awake, decides to investigate. In the bathroom there is nothing, apart from the occasional drops of water coming out of the tap. She knows but chooses the ignore what the thing sounded like. There's nothing here. 

CRUNCH

That came from the bedroom, she is sure of it. Alice rushes back to it, and of course, there is nothing there. Of course. When the next wet sound is heard near the door this time, Alice just gets into bed. She clasps her hands to her ears, ignores everything. Just sleep. 

The noises still ring, still hit her head, but how can she hear them when her hands are covering her ears and she is humming to herself? They sound like they are in the room with her but that's not possible because these sounds occurred hours earlier and surely noses don't break the same every time, right? And guts don't all fall the same, do they? It's unlikely, unlikely, it's so unlikely. What's likely then? What's likely is PTSD. That's likely right, that's likely. You hear noises but that's ok, they'll fade, and they mean nothing because I know what's likely I am not crazy am I. Did I eat today? She's had a mango before bed. That was a nice mango. Is she vegetarian now? It's good for you isn't it? One, two,three, four. One, two,three, four.

There's someone in the room.

One, two, three, four.

There's a weight on her bed.

Vaas, Vaas,it's Vaas' bed, it's not your bed. My bed smells nice I put lavender in it.

This is sleep hallucination, or whatever that thing is called when you think there's something in with you, people get that. Your body is asleep but your brain is awake or something like that, it happens. It's fine.

It's holding her hand now. Is that normal? 

Let's just sleep, you'll be fine. You choose to be scared or not.

Oh god, it's squeezing her hand now, for real! It's kissing it. It's so real, she can feel how hot its mouth is, how rough its lips are, the stubble on its face.

She can't help it. Alice whimpers and pulls her hand back to her, against her chest, then over her ear again. The weight leaves the bed. 

It's gone! It's fine, it's walking away! 

There's dogs crying outside. Is it attaching the dogs? 

For god' sake, Alice, it's not attacking anything it's not even real, just sleep you'll feel better soon.

It's walking towards her again now, angry steps, and then there's a light weight that drops on her bed and the thing walks away, but the weight remains. It walks to her, licks her face. Licks her face!! Alice opens her eyes and backs away, and it is her puppy, the cute ugly one, in bed with her. It looks so happy to see her. It's even barking its tiny bark, and Alice cannot hear any more breaking noses and falling guts.

She holds her puppy.

The next morning Alice sleeps in a bit, the puppy's warm body lying as close to her face as possible. When she wakes and walks out, she is surprised to see Vaas still there, all smiles. Alice knows he's brought the puppy,and she thanks him silently, by holding his hand. They don't speak of it.

For a few nights, the puppy stays with Alice, otherwise she cannot sleep. Vaas kicks it out of the shack in the morning, and throws it back in in the evening. The puppy is always just pleased to be near her, and it almost makes her cry because it's just so little, and so kind. So genuine. She sleeps well.

About four days later, Vaas tells her they are going to a place called Badtown to give a message from Hoyt to a man called Buck. Vaas promises Alice a drink at a local bar.

They drive along the coast, and Alice is once again struck by the sheer beauty of the island. How can a place so heavenly be the setting for so much evil?

Badtown itself is not so lovely. At first sight, it looks similar to the pirate camp, but a closer look reveals the town' share of drunkards and sleazy looking individuals, strip bars and a number of half dressed local girls and women walking around and cat calling men. None of them call Vaas, however, and Alice briefly wonders if his murderous, sadistic tendencies reveal themselves in the bedroom as well.

They walk into a quiet bar, where a woman is sitting on a man's lap in the corner of the room, and she has her hand in his trousers. There are three guys sitting at a table and playing cards. And in the corner, there is a white man in his forties, wearing jeans and an open short sleeved shirt. There is a bright, colourful tattoo on his chest. He stands, opens his arms.

"Aaah, Vaas! It's nice to see you mate." Australian accent. "Come on take a seat mate, what are you drinking? And who's this?"

"Alice."

"Alice? Welcome to wonderland." He laughs. "We've never met before have we? I don't forget a face. Not such a lovely one anyway. You're British?"

"Yes."

"I'm Bambi Hughes." He smiles at Vaas. "Who is she then?".

"Let's cut the bullshit, Buck, I got a request from Hoyt."

"Alright, we'll get to that, no need to be rude. What are you drinking? Beer? What about you, love? Beer?"

He gets up, goes to the bar. Vaas drags a chair around until it is facing the room and sits on it. When Alice makes no movement to sit down, he gestures to her, somewhat abruptly. For some reason he doesn't seem too fond of Buck, or perhaps it is the place he dislikes. Or maybe it is because she is there, perhaps he is regretting bringing her out here. He reaches out for her hands which are clasped onto her lap. She jumps, as this means he is now almost touching her thighs. How many lights in the room? One, two, three, four...

"Here you go, lovebirds. Two beers."

Vaas retracts his hand and reaches into his pocket to retrieve a neatly folded piece of paper. He pushes it over to Buck who opens it, reads it, then puts it into the pocket of his shirt.

"I need to know it's going to be done." Says Vaas, and Buck waves a hand dismissively.

"Come on, mate." His blue eyes focus on Alice again. "So," he takes a sip of his beer, and she does the same. "How came you here, love?"

"Um..."

"Ok it's better you don't talk to her, hermano."

"Ok!" Buck raises his hands in submission. The tattoo on his chest is that of a deer.

"Are you satisfied with your price?" Asks Vaas.

"Yeah. I am actually quite pleased. Don't worry about the job mate, tell Hoyt it's going to get done soon."

"Ok that's good."

"Does Hoyt know about this bird?" Asks Buck, refusing to let go.

Vaas makes everyone jump as he stands, knocking his chair down.

"Ok, ok! Let's keep it cool mate, I'm only asking, really."

"We're leaving. Come on let's go, " he whistles, showing the door.

"You haven't touched your beer, and look, the poor darling has hardly had a sip. Sit down, mate, I'm really sorry. I was teasing you alright? You know you can trust me, mate. I mind my own business. Please, sit down. You enjoying that beer, love?"

"Yes thank you, it's very nice. Very, uh... Refreshing."

"See? The girl's happy. Sit down, mate, I won't mention it again I promise."

Vaas looks like he's about to murder someone, and Alice reaches up to his hand. He picks his chair up, sits back down, squeezes her hand when she tries to retrieve it. The noises of the bar start again.  
Buck's eyes flick back and forth between them, and when Vaas takes a sip of his drink the Australian winks at her.

"Sorry mate, I've been a bit cranky these days."

"Why, are you not getting enough pussy?"

Buck laughs without joy.

"Don't you worry about that, mate. No. See, Keith's been a bit of a pain in the arse, so bloody demanding mate you know? Always wants more, more, more."

As Buck keeps talking about this Keith, Alice finds it really hard to determine who that is. From the way the Australian speaks about them, Keith could either be a lover, a child, or maybe even a dog. Alice takes her time drinking her beer, because, once the initial creepiness of Buck wears off, he turns out to be good company, and it is nice to be out of the camp for a while and do something remotely normal. She needs a wee, but is not sure if Vaas will just let her go.

"Um, Vaas?"

He turns to her.

"I'm s-I mean, could I use the bathroom? If that's ok?"

"God, love, if you need to go you need to go!" Chuckles Buck.

She sees that Vaas hesitates. This is the furthest they've been away from camp, and he is probably considering going in with her.

"I'll just be a minute, I promise." She looks him in the eyes, rubs her thumb on the back his hand. "I just... Need a tinkle."

"A tinkle!" Buck is very amused.

"Ok." Agrees Vaas, at last. "You got two minutes."

"Thank you. Two minutes, thank you." She turns to Buck, pulls her hand away. "Is it this way?"

"Just round behind the bar, love."

Alice throws one last reassuring smile at Vaas from above her shoulder as she disappears into the bathroom. Alice has a wee, then takes her time washing her hands and brushing her hair. This is nice, she thinks. She could almost believe that when she walks out again, her friends will be there, diving gear ready, and they'll all go to a site together, and this was all just a weird dream. Someone walks in behind her. It is the local woman, the one who had her hand in the man's trousers. Instead of going to the loo though, the woman walks over to Alice' side and stares at her awkwardly.

Alice gives her a tight smile, dries her hands.

"Excuse me. You Alice?"

"Pardon?"

"You Alice?"

"Um... Yes."

Alice makes her way to the door.

"You know Tim?"

"Pardon?" Alice stops dead in her tracks. The woman, a girl really walks over to her and whispers in a hushed tone:

"You know Tim and Jessica?"

"Yes. Why?"

"They ok. Tim ask me to give you a message. He is.. Ah.. Tinggalkan, the island? You know what mean, tinggalkan?"

"He's leaving?"

"Yes. He leaving. He tell you to come with he. He with Rakyat people. He leaving. I am rakyat."

"What? When?"

"Esok pagi."

"What, you mean tomorrow morning or afternoon?"

"Pagi."

"I don't know if that's morning, please...!"

"You go to doctor house, esok pagi. He find you, you leaving."

"Wait...!" 

The girl hurries out of the room.

"Fuck!" Breathes Alice, looking at herself in the mirror.

"Jesus!"

She splashes her face with water. Slaps herself. Slaps herself with both hands. Get it together Alice, come on.

Oh god.

This could go so, so wrong. It could be a trap. Maybe Vaas planned it all out. Or maybe Buck did this. Fuck!

This could be true. What's rakyat?

Tomorrow morning. Fuck.

She's got to try it. Shit. She's got to.


	12. Peekaboo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You weren't expecting (nor were you wanting) an update this soon, but here it is anyways ;)  
> Hope you enjoy, thank you for the insane support I am getting with his huge challenge of a story.  
> Happy ^^

Alice does not sleep very well that night, despite the presence of the puppy. She's got to try it, even if it's a trap. Then maybe Vaas will just kill her. Either way, she'd be out of this hell. Alice looks at the puppy. She's not even given it a name yet, though it has more or less become her dog. What's a good name for a dog? This dog? So far she's been calling it 'pup' and 'boy'. Is that a good name? Boy? Pup?

It's such an ugly animal. In a way, his ugliness makes him all the more endearing, and Alice very happily returns his affections, cuddling him all the time. He will grow fairly big, she can tell. Should she take him with her? 

No. Immigration is a nightmare, and if she were to make it back to England, the dog would not be allowed in. Also, if she randomly took the dog to Alec's house, Vaas might know something was up.  
That is, if he isn't the one planning all of this in the first place.

So, Alice says her goodbyes. Cuddles the puppy all night, plays with him in the early morning. Wishes him well. Gives him a wash. He's a bit startled at first, but soon enough he is rather enjoying himself, seeking the tap and crying for more water.

When they come out, Vaas has woken up, and has put some pants on. He is still topless though, and his trousers are open. He rubs his eyes. Has he not slept well either? His eyes look dark, and his Mohawk is a bit ruffled up. He is pouring himself some water, then starts chopping up a mango.

"Good morning , Vaas."

He doesn't turn around.

"Morning, sirenita. Sleep well?"

Is he tricking her? Alice settles for honesty.

"Not really, no. And you?"

"Me neither. You hungry?"

She walks over to him. There are scars all over his back. He is muscly, and there are a few dark hairs on his chest and trailing down to his trousers. He is not wearing underwear, and Alice doesn't know where to look. He catches her, and buttons up his trousers.

He can be kind, she thinks, and the thought grows into her mind like a cancer.

She's realised by now that he's the one who was holding her hand the other night, and brought the puppy to her. He's been kind, really, apart from... Everything. This might be the last time she sees him, she realises, and she is not sure what to think about that. He's abducted her, he's killed Brad and terrorised Tim and Jessica, he's killed people from the trip, he's made her eat human meat... He's a slaver, a murderer, a psychopath. But, he has treated her kind of well. He is sick, she thinks, and he does seem to have something for her. She needs to get home though, and that's it. This is getting confusing.

"I was wondering if I could maybe visit Dr Earnhardt today?" She asks. "I haven't been in days." She adds, defensively.

Vaas says nothing for a while.

"Ok." 

Alice breathes out, relieved.

"I've got to visit some outposts today anyway so you might as well do that, nena. When you're there can you tell him me and the boys are coming to pick up some stuff tomorrow ok? The usual."

"Sure. No problem. Thank you."

"Thank you, nena."

The dog walks out, looking all fresh and bouncing happily. Alice cannot shake the cancer out of her head.

"Vaas... You know, the other night,when I was... Um... Having nightmares."

"Yeah?"

"Did you... Was it you who held my hand? And then brought the puppy?"

"Yeah. You were looking all" he moves his hands around, "upset, and like you were seeing stuff. You didn't want my hand so I thought that ugly dog might help."

"Thank you." She repeats, but he seems unconvinced.

Sudenly, Alice feels a strange feeling in her chest. She wants him to realise that really, as fucked up as their situation is, she is thankful to him for that. Plus, she wants him to think that all is going very well. There's a hint of pity in that feeling, because truly, he is mad, he isn't himself.   
She's going to the doctor's house, but it's fine, she's doing her part of the deal, no need to get mad. Her hand reaches up to his face on its own accord, gently turning it around to face hers.

"I mean it. Thank you. And for taking me to the bar yesterday, and for the swim the other day. And for today. Thank you, Vaas."

She lets her finger brush his cheek. He has nice lips, she thinks, and he looks kind of handsome when he smiles. She takes a step forward. You're doing it to get him off your back, she tells herself. Gain his trust, that's a good idea. Make him think the deal is going ahead.

Alice is on her tiptoes now. She sees the pirate's eyes flicking to her lips, and she knows what he wants. He said if she touched him anywhere, that meant he could now do that too. He certainly has been making the most of her touching his hand a week ago, but it's not like she'll ever see him again. And if she does, either he'll kill her, or perhaps he will be merciful precisely because of what she is about to do now. Just a peck, she decides. To keep him off of her. To earn his trust. To say thank you. To garantee his forgiveness should the operation fail. Her eyes shut.  
When their lips connect, Alice just exerts a gentle pressure, like a slight push. It feels alright, she has to admit, he isn't disgusting. His actions are, though, but she can make herself forget for a second. She attempts to pull away, but he follows her, pushing against her lips more decidedly. She lets him have a couple more seconds. Counts to four. Alice tries pulling away again,and this time his hand goes to her face, then the other slips to her neck, and he is now the one doing the kissing. Alice feels panic bubbling up, tries focusing her mind on her upcoming escape. His kiss is rather gentle, but there is definite insistence, and a hint of sexual frustration. He uses no tongue, just lips. His lips push hers, pinch her bottom one, then his teeth bite lightly on her lip and Alice puts her hand on his chest - it is burning hot - and pushes him away whilst taking a few steps back. They break apart. 

"Right so uh, I'll see you tonight then, ok?" She is shaking like a leaf. Her lips feel electrified, her whole face is tingling. He's got a big goofy smile on his face.

"Ok then nena. You know what this means no?" He is pointing to his lips.

"Yes, yes, sure. Um, see you later ok?"

"See you later sirenita." 

She picks up the car keys and walks out, and he follows, awfully close, then waves at her as she makes her way to the vehicles. Once in the safety of the car, Alice drives off, wipes her lips with the back of her hand.

Is it morning now? Has she missed it? Is it later? Is it all a big lie?

She drives at normal speed, doesn't tap impatiently on the steering wheel. There's nothing in the car with her, she's not even taken the handgun Vaas has given her. She's left everything behind, has not even brought a jacket or anything. It needs to look like a normal day. As she drives, Alice looks around in the jungle, on the road, trying to find any sort of a sign of Tim or the girl from the bar.

She is nearly at the doctor's house now, and is starting to get worried. Nothing is happening. Are they at the doctor's house? Was it all a lie? Did they get held up? Will she have to be kissed by Vaas every single day from now on? Was it a scheme of his, to get a kiss? How desperate can you be for a kiss?

She parks the car a bit away from the house, because there is a fallen branch on the road up to the mansion. She can see the silhouette of the doctor moving around in the greenhouse. Alice starts making her way up, when sudenly someone grabs her from behind and a big hand covers her mouth and nose. Kicking, she is dragged into the jungle and pushed against a tree. The mansion disappears.

"Ridley it's me," says a voice, and Alice stops fighting.

"Tim!" 

"Shh, keep quiet, Earnhardt might hear."

"Oh god, Tim! Was it true? Are you ok??"

"Fine, Alice how are you?? You've been with that guy for like two weeks, are you ok?"

"Yes, yes, I'm ok."

"Does he know you're here? How did you get away? I wasn't sure you would be able to come but I can't get to the camp!"

"He lets me come here. Who was that girl?"

"Just some girl, she won't talk, come on we need to go!"

He pulls her away and the two of them set off running in the jungle.

"Where are we going? Where's Jessica?"

"What?"

"Jessica?"

"She's fine, fine, we got a boat we're going to fix, I'm taking you somewhere safe. I had to get you out of there, are you sure you're ok?" 

They are diving deeper into the jungle, light disappearing as the vegetation thickens around them. The air becomes oppressive, it is almost like breathing water. On the ground, there are fallen leaves as big as Alice's entire body. Tim looks skinnier, but also more athletic, more determined, he has a slightly hallucinated look on his face, as if he's been on drugs for a while. He's carrying a machine gun on his back, a handgun at his waist, a machete in his hand. It is him though, calling people by their last names, talking to her, leading her in then out of trouble. It's like uni all over again,except on a lesser scale. 

"I can't believe you're really here!" She tells him. Is this really the end? Is she getting home?

"You too" he smiles, "to be honest we weren't even sure you were alive! What's he been doing to you?"

But Alice isn't ready to speak about the human meat, not yet. Perhaps she never will be.

"Where are we going?" She asks, instead.

"Somewhere safe."

"And where's that?"

"With the Rakyat. There're the locals, they're at war with the pirates. I've been helping them, they said they'd help me get you out and they'd help you both get away from here."

"Us both?"

"You and Jess."

"What? But what about you?"

"I'm staying, I've got to help the Rakyat, I've met their leader, she said she'd make sure you both got out of here safely if I help their cause."

"How are you supposed to help them? You're... You're..." ...a gardener, finished her mind for her.

"They say I'm a warrior. Their leader, she believes in me. She said I just need to prove myself."

"But who is she?"

"Citra. She's from here, she knows the islands, and she knows that pirate who took you, that Montenegro, she said..." 

But Tim does not finish his sentence, because gunshots are heard bouncing off the trees. A lot of them. Close. Probably near the doctor's house.

"Oh no!"

"Shit."

Tim grabs her arm and they set off running again, pushing through the bushes, slipping on the wet ground. More gunshots, even closer now, shouts.  
This cannot be happening.  
Has someone followed her there? She's been careful, she's checked the rear view mirror. Was it because of her kiss? Has Vaas read through her? Why did she kiss him?? Why did she think it would put him off her?? How could she mess this up so much?? Are they shooting Alec? Do they think he's helped her?

"We'll be fine Ridley, it's ok, let's keep going, come on just keep up!"

Alice is whimpering to herself, repeating "no,no,no" like a mantra. This is wrong. He's going to kill her. The deal is off, he's going to rape her, torture her, kill her.

More gunshots,like they're being fired in the air.

"Here, take this."'

Tim gives her his handgun.

"Oh no! no!"

"Ridley you're fine!! The safety's off, just shoot at them if they come near, you're fine!"

Vaas gave her one of those, but he never got round to teaching her, and she still has no idea what to do with it. Hers is still at his shack, on the shelf near the DVDs.  
They run. By now, the air is so moist that it is as if they'd both just had a shower with their clothes on.

"Are we far?" 

"Quite, yes. Fuck, we should have taken your car, I thought going through the jungle would be more discrete."

Alice is sure she can hear them now, a lot of them, running not far behind them. The vegetation is so dense that they could literally be a few feet away and wouldn't see each other.  
Gosh,what if they run into a tiger?  
They walk through a dirty pond, keep going. Tim is holding Alice's top, pulling her. She's never been a good runner.

"Come on! come on,"urges Tim.

Alice's lungs are burning, she feels like she is going to be sick, but she isn't giving up. They've got to try,they cannot be caught. What's the poem again? Do not go gentle into that good night, rage, rage against the dying of the light. Nothing has ever spoken to her more than these words, in this instant.

So they run.

Eventually Tim seems to grow tired, and he slows down, looks behind them.

"I think we're losing them. Shit, that was close. Are you al-?"

Alice screams as something red and huge tackles Tim to the ground. They've caught up with them. How?? Tim and the pirate wrestle on the ground. The pirate is trying to get his gun out, and Tim bites, punches, kicks, headbuts, rolls, does everything in his power to stop him. They roll again, and Tim is on top this time. They sound like animals. The pirate is holding and squeezing Tim's throat, and Tim is pushing his thumb into the pirate's eye socket. There is a wet pop, and Alice realises that she is crying. Her hand is trembling. What is she holding again? They roll around again. The pirate, now half blind, headbuts Tim and the latter is stunned, all fight leaving him. The pirate finally pulls his gun out. Alice knows she cannot shoot. Not from far. Both hands on the weapon.  
When the gun touches his temple, the pirate's face crunches up in confusion and he looks at her. She shoots. Doesn't miss, not from this close.  
The kickback is astounding. It shakes her arms, hits her shoulders, the gun does an angry push back, as if it is trying to go to her chest. The noise is so loud both of Alice's ears start whistling. There's blood on the ground. What's the saying? Red and green, never to be seen? Or is it blue and green?

Tim is amazingly unbothered. He stands, laughs, gives her a pat on the back. Then his eyes focus on something behind her and all humour leaves his face. He reaches for his machine gun, pushes Alice to the ground. Since when is he this strong? The machine gun fires, and Alice hears at least seven different bodies hitting the ground near her. She is pulled to her feet, pulled along again.

Now is not the time to mourn her soul.

Sound returns to her ears, the whistling fades, and all of Alice's limbs feel like they are pulsating with electricity. Colours are brighter, smells stronger, and her legs have stopped hurting.

They get to a clearing, and sudenly it's him, his voice rings somewhere behind them, not far.

"Sirenita! SIRENITA! Don't you swim away from me!!"

"It's him!" Alice is panicking.

Tim pushes her behind a tree, shushes her. He goes to hide in a bush, inspects his machine gun. They grow very still, as Alice feels, actually feels, Vaas entering the clearing.

"Sirenita! Where are you, nena?" He sounds mad. "Tim, hermano? You here? I know you here, amigo. You killed a load of my men back there. But I respect you for it."

He is pacing. How on earth did he know so quickly? How did he find them?? Would he never had known, had she not kissed him??

"You took my mermaid, amigo. She and I have got a deal. A deal for your pathetic, tiny life. You just broke that deal, amigo. I want my sirenita back, you hear me?"

They can hear him walking around, and Alice imagines he is probably punching the air.

"FUCK!! Hermano, give me back my fucking mermaid!! I'm gonna fucking slice you open and feed you to the dogs, you fuck!!"

Alice is still crying, as silently as possible. One look at Tim confirms that he does not even seem frightened. What's got to him? He used to be scared of spiders in bathrooms. He is inspecting his gun, listening carefully. He must be trying to determine where exactly Vaas is, to jump out and shoot him on the spot.

"You're gonna be my bitch," continues Vaas. "I'm gonna make you pay for this hermano."

It sounds like he has turned around, and Tim takes his chance. He jumps out, aims, fires.

There's no one there. The clearing is empty. Tim walks into it, searching. Alice follows. Where has he gone?? He was right there!

"Peekaboo, motherfucker."


	13. Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks once again for your continued support, whether you comment, kudo, or just read, thank you so much. I refresh my emails every two seconds to see if you've enjoyed the chapter ;)
> 
> A shorter chapter, but so packed with feels that I think it had to come on its own.
> 
> Enjoy :)

"You know, it's not even the kiss that told me something was wrong." Vaas ' eyes are dark, dangerous, out of this world. "She kissed me, did you know that? She. Kissed. ME!!"

He hits his chest, his whole body erupting in rage. Then he calms, laughs, paces around.

"You're a good actress, nena. I believed you." He applauds her. "I was way in there, nena, I believed you, I was," he motions to the clouds, hidden above the trees. Laughs his mad laugh. "It's that bitch at the bar, no? She told you. Oh you played me so bad, nena!" He hides his face in his hands, it's like he's just been caught on You've Been Framed.

Tim aims his rifle and fires, but all that comes out is a click. Jammed. Vaas has not even blinked.

"But it's not the kiss, no, no, no, it wasn't the kiss, that made me think, 'Vaas, something is wrong here, something isn't right,she's playing you hermano...', no, no, no,what made me go after you this morning, nena, it's that FUCKING DOG!!"

Tim throws his gun in anger. 

"Alice, give me your gun." His hand is extended, expectantly, as he looks at Vaas. He doesn't doubt for a second that she will comply.

"That fucking dog, that ugly little shit, because nena, you were saying goodbye to that thing, you were hugging it like it was fucking beautiful, no? And then you fucking played me!!" He's yelling again, hitting his heart, pacing wildly in front of them.

Alice feels like crying, because he is hurt, for real, and she feels nasty, she didn't have to kiss him, it was cruel, she understands that now.

"I didn't...! Vaas, I wasn't playing you!"

"Alice it doesn't matter, pass me the gun!!" Shouts Tim.

"I was saying goodbye!" 

And she doesn't know why she's justifying herself. She's got nothing to apologise for, he abducted her, he did this, she's done nothing wrong!! He's forced her into all of this, how could he not expect her to try and leave?

"Ridley, just pass me the fucking gun!! NOW!"

Alice shakes her head. She doesn't want him dead. 

"What the fuck, Ridley? Stockholm syndrome much? Give it to me!"

"No! Don't, don't, I don't want him to die!"

"Ridley!! What are you doing? We're leaving! Now! Just shoot him, then! Come on!"

"There's- there's been e-enough k-killing, I can't, I..!"

She's walking away from Tim, she sudenly realises, and is now halfway to Vaas. He's yet to do anything, he's watching them, he's not even scared.

"He'll kill you, you idiot! He'll kill both of us! He killed Brad! He's a maniac, I know him, Citra told me everything, trust me he deserves to die!"

"Citra?" Vaas looks up to the invisible sky, laughs again, throws his arms in the air. "Citra's been talking to you? My sister's been talking to you? She's been telling you all her stories? Huh?" His laugh turns taunting, mocking Tim. "You're so fucked, white boy."

"Fuck this." Says Tim, and he reaches for his machete. 

"Tim, no, wait!"

With a great battle cry, Tim goes for Vaas, his arm high, his eyes unseeing.

"Tim!! TIM!! Tim, just FUCKING WAIT!!"

Alice's hands constrict like from a spasm, and the gunshot bursts loud in the clearing. The whole island must have heard it. She blinks in confusion. Where did that come from? There's only them three in the clearing. Them two. Tim is lying down, his chest all red, he's dead. But who shot him? It wasn't Vaas. Is there someone in the trees? She looks around wildly, pointing the smoking gun at the trees. Who did this? Vaas is in front of her, he is holding her face.

"Nena, nena, nena," he is whispering in Spanish, kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her eyes, her lips, her hands. He's laughing. His eyes are green. Alice shakes him off. What happened?

"Do it."

Do what? What's happening?

His hands are holding hers, and hers are still on the gun. He's guiding the gun to his heart, holds it there, pushes on Alice's fingers.

"Do it, nena, end this. I'll never let you go. You want to leave? Do it now. I'll never let you leave me. Do it."

He cannot be serious. And yet here he is, holding her holding the gun, pushing into his heart, looking into her eyes, whispering soothing things to her. But she cannot. She's not a murderer. Who killed Tim? Tim is dead. They failed. She's lost her ticket home. She is lost. All she's got is this maniac, and his voice that sounds so nice, these hot words he whispers in Spanish, does he love her,is this true? She needs him. He protects her.

"No," she begs, and more forcefully: "No. Vaas, let go. Let go!" She pulls herself out of his grasp, throws the gun to the side, away from them.  
He takes a step towards her and she pushes him, frightened. He hardly moves, and she's put of all her strenght into it.

"No!"

"What do you want, nena?" The tone is serious, but not unkind. "What do you want?"

What do I do? What do I do? What have I done?  
There's a moment's hesitation, during which Alice steels herself, considers her limited options, and Vaas holds her gaze, his arms open.

"What do YOU want with me?!" She is yelling at him.

"I told you." He's ever so calm. "Everything, that's what I want. You're up here, nena," he points to his head, "and in there." He points to his heart. "You're like a sweet cancer to me. You're not gonna leave me. You're gonna have to erase me completely if you want to leave me."

They stay silent for a bit. When Alice takes a step back, he takes one forward.

"What do you want?" He asks again.

For a few seconds more, four exactly, Alice braces herself. She wants to live. When she reaches for him he is ready, meeting her halfway. Has he known this all along? She doesn't care. She wants to live.  
Alice has not kissed many men in her life. She kissed a boy when she was 12, did not enjoy it, then kissed and was kissed by her ex boyfriend Eric. So technically, that's two men if you include Vaas. The thing is, Alice isn't the most sexual person in the world. It's not that she doesn't enjoy sex, it's that it's just not a the top of her likes and dislikes. Neither is kissing, for that matter. She's learnt not to expect enjoyment from kissing and from sex. And from kissing Vaas, Alice has never even expected anything. She's limited her goals to taking it without showing disgust, and with as little discomfort as possible. She'd quietly hoped that she would be out of his grasp before they even got beyond first base. When she'd jumped forward, Alice had kind of been thinking of hugging him, having decided to go with the version of the story that went a bit like 'I was saying goodbye to you because I do care about you, please don't kill me', but Vaas' lips had gone straight for her own, and now they are kissing. Well, he is kissing, and she is returning it as best she can.

And it's not half as bad as she thought.

His hands are holding her head in place, his lips pushing and pulling, warm and demanding against her own soft ones. Then the pirate shifts, tilting his head to the side, getting even closer to her still, diving his tongue into her mouth, burying his fingers in her hair and pulling it as his other hand trails down her arms, her waist, her back, grabbing and letting go, and when she lets out a noise from the back of her throat neither of them can tell if it's out of pain or pleasure. But Vaas slows down, eases his hold on her hair, his tongue becomes coaxing and no longer brutal. His hand on her back is still firm, but he no longer digs his nails into her flesh. He just holds her to him, kissing her mouth, gently inciting her to respond to his tongue. And when she does, it is him who makes a noise, and it is as if his fingers are shaking.  
Alice puts her hands on his chest and clings to his red top, unsure whether to push him away or hold him close.

"Alice" he breathes against her lips. Then, he kisses her cheeks, her neck, leaving a hot,electric trail wherever his lips touch her skin. "I knew you wanted me." There's a wicked smile in his voice.

"I want to live," manages Alice, and she unconsciously pulls him closer.

"No," his hands are brushing her hair off her face, he is smiling his crazy smile again. "No,no,no, nena, living means nothing, you wanna be alive, alive for real, that's what you want."

Her body molds perfectly against his, she doesn't know what he means by that, isn't living and being alive the same thing? Kissing him isn't so bad, in fact it is rather good, and that's a euphemism. Her whole body is responding to his touch, and Alice realises she has never been this turned on by a simple kiss. 

Probably because there's nothing simple about this.

He's kissing her again, softly,reverently, and now she is seeking him as much as he is seeking her. Her hands unclench, and her fingers reach his rough chin, touch his neck. With her eyes shut it is easy to forget. Easier to seek that relief and comfort he is so happy to give. She presses closer still.  
Alec's voice echoes in her head: 'perhaps'. Not no, not yes, perhaps. Alice starts pulling away.

"Vaas!"

Vaas lets Alice slip out of his arms and turns to his pirates as they arrive in the clearing.

"You ok man?" This pirate actually sounds northern american.

"Took your sweet fucking time hermano."

The pirate looks at Alice, then back at Vaas, scowling.

"That fuck," Vaas points at Tim's dead body. "That sick piece of shit tried to take my mermaid away."

"A lot of the boys are dead, Vaas."

"He fucking killed them."

"What is she doing?" Asks the other one, suspicious.

"What is she doing?" Repeats Vaas. He walks to the pirate. "What is she doing?" The other one shifts foot nervously. "What she's doing, hermano, is getting shit done. She's killed that white boy. She's one of us. Now why don't you move your stupid white boy ass away from here, stop asking so many stupid questions and start cleaning this shit up, huh? Citra sent that white boy. Now go. Disappear."

Alice is relieved. For some reason, Vaas has chosen to keep her part in the attempted escape quiet,making it sound like she was being taken away by force. He said she'd killed Tim, and Alice is still unsure of who did it. It can't have been her. Hopefully whoever actually did it will be too scared of Vaas to come forward.

As the other pirates leave, Vaas walks back to her, takes her hand.

"Let's go home now nena, ok?" He kisses her hand. "Don't you worry."

He kisses her hand again, looks her in the eye.

"You're alive now."


	14. Chill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And no chills were given as I publish another chapter way sooner than necessary. Can't help myself!!
> 
> This is a chapter I like to think of as the calm before the storm. Vaas doesn't forgive easy!
> 
> Forgive the potentially awful writing of physical intimacy, it's not my forte. And please stay tuned :)

As expected, Vaas makes the most of the fact that she was the first to kiss him. He never mentions her trying to leave, and blames it all on Tim. Alice still does not know who killed Tim, but everyone else seems to think that it was her, which plays in her advantage. She keeps watching Vaas out of the corner of her eye, expecting reprisals, but nothing happens. Alice feels, knows, that she saw him break in that clearing, truly break, but he never talks about it, doesn't once speak of her trying to leave him. He only mentions her shooting Tim to protect him. The closest they ever come to talking about her active involvement in the escape attempt is when, one morning, Alice washes the puppy, and as they come out of the bathroom Vaas throws her a suspicious look from his sleeping spot on the couch.

"I have to share a bed with him," explains Alice, keeping her tone light. "He really smells."

Vaas nods, unconvinced, then gets up, grumpy, and as he walks past Alice to get to the bathroom she hears him grumble something along the lines of 'I shower every fucking day'. When he comes out, he very unceremoniously picks the dog up and throws it outside, but when he comes back he is himself again, chatty and smiling.

Alice wears the red tie on her arm everyday. When she walks around, pirates don't just nod their heads to Vaas, they do it to her too. They look at her. Some even give her a smile. Not a creepy one, a normal one. She even dares to go to the kitchen alone, without her protector (captor, betrays her mind).

Vaas is overjoyed.

He kisses her as often as he can, for as long as possible. Makes sure to kiss her at least once or twice in public each day. And when he isn't kissing her, he goes for her hand, rests his hand on her neck, does everything he can to make it clear that she's with him, not that he actually needs to. He tries to take things further, on a couple of occasions. 

One afternoon, about a week later, they are watching a film together on his couch, and it is almost hilarious the way they are both sitting: his arm on the back of the couch in a very clear invitation, and her, shuffled as far as possible from him. Then, he gets up to use the toilet, and when he returns he sits right next - against - her. Eventually, he stretches his arms and gives a massive, ridiculous parody of a yawn, and his arm goes to the back of the couch, his fingers lightly touching her shoulder. It's so stupid that Alice cannot stifle a laugh.

"What? What you laughing at?" He tenses, his dark face so close that his breath tickles her face.

"Nothing, it's just uh... You know. Real smoo-ooth."

He just stares at her for a second and she wonders if she's angered him.

"Oh yeah?" His face cracks into a smile. "How's that for smooth?" He rests his forehead against hers, touches his nose to hers, holds her chin with two fingers and lets his breath carress her mouth before he brushes his lips to hers.

That is actually quite smooth. Corny, but smooth.

She responds easily to his kiss, because it is a soft, gentle one, and she is more comfortable with this kind of intimacy. The hot, hungry kisses always put her in a state of unrest and weakened nerves. Vaas nimbles at her lip, and she does the same, and when his tongue makes a timid contact with hers she is ready. She welcomes it with a sigh, a reaction which seems to give him confidence. His hand leaves her chin and travels to the side of her face, cupping it gently.  
Very smooth indeed.   
Alice's hands leave her lap and go to his shoulders. One hand snakes to the back of his head, caresses his Mohawk, and the other stays safely flat against his chest,ready to push away, or pull forward. He turns in his seat, facing her. The arm above her shoulders sinks slightly, enclosing her, and Alice finds that she isn't scared. It feels nice. Safe. His chest is so warm against her own, there's only her hand to stop her breasts from being crushed to his body.  
And it feels nice.  
They both have forgotten the film ('Netflix and chill' had said Vaas earlier, 'except no Netflix, and no chill.'), as the kiss starts getting a bit more heated. Vaas' hand goes from her face to her throat, his thumb brushing her lip on the way, then down again, until it is just above her breast. His fingers twitch, like he is resisting the urge to dig them in. She can tell he is doing what he thinks she will be comfortable with, and cannot help the dreaded and now familiar feeling of gratefulness from spreading through her. Her hand on his chest clutches at his shirt, pulls him forward.

"Nena" he whispers against her lips, followed by a series of words she doesn't know the meaning of, but which make her skin tingle all over. Alice isn't quite sure what is happening to her, or rather, she refuses to translate the way her body is reacting into a word, because that is scary, that is losing what little control she thinks she may have over the situation. She was going to allow a kiss, but now she wants...more than that. She aimed to allow,and now she wants. It's terrifying.  
Her heart is beating wildly, her thoughts are fading, there's a warmth in her that makes her want to pull the pirate closer still, makes her want him to touch her, to push her back and-

Wait.

Alec speaks to her, as if he was right there. 'You have Vaas' madness in your hands' he said 'play your cards well'. What was the sexiest word in the world, according to him? Perhaps. Not yes. 

Not yet.

She's started inching back herself, she sudenly realises, and Vaas is more than happy to follow her. He's practically on top of her now. There's no room to pull away. Gently but steadily, Alice pushes him up, signifying to him that now is enough. He gets it right away, she knows, but doesn't immediately complies, instead doing everything he knows brings out soft pleasure noises out of her. She insists a bit more, no longer responding to his kiss, no longer touching him back, and eventually he sits back up with a loud groan.

"You play me so bad," he sulks, but his eyes are smiling.

"I don't... I'm not trying to play you, I'm just, you know, not ready."

"Why? Is this your first time?"

"No! No, not at all. I mean, no it isn't." She reaches for his hand, gives it a squeeze. "But it's my first time with you, and now is not the right time, you know?"

"What, you mean on the couch? The bed's right there..."

"I mean, on the couch, in the afternoon, with Carlos right outside and everyone walking by... I just think our first time should be, you know... Special."

Oh god. It sounds so bad even she is cringing at her own words. There is not way in hell he is ever going to buy that. What a shit, shit excuse! There's no way that's going to work. She's got to play it safe, especially after how horribly wrong her little stunt has gone. Of course, the real reason for her refusal is that she doesn't want to have sex with him, or rather, she doesn't want to want to have sex with him, and she knows that now he's got a kiss, sex is pretty much her last joker.

"I want to get to know you better first." She adds. "I think it would be best of we were in love. Both of us."

She's been there with him for nearly a month now, and his 'girlfriend' for three weeks, perhaps more. If she really wants to find a way out before he gets too cosy with her, she is going to have to act fast. 'Special'. What a stupid thing to say.

"Ok. Alright." Vaas retracts his arm. "I still think you're playing me, playing all hard to get, but ok I'll go along. You're not easy, I respect that. 'Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet' " he declares, a finger in the air. "Aristotle said that. You know who that is?"

"A Greek philosopher?"

"Yeah. A really smart guy. He said a whole lot of smart, philosophical shit. When I read that quote I thought fuck that, but now I get it. This is bitter," he points to the obvious bulge in his trousers, "but this fruit" he digs a finger in Alice's ribs, causing her to let out a very undignified giggle, "is gonna be so fucking sweet." He opens his arms, gives her a challenging look. "And you just told me, when you agree to fuck me that will mean you're in love with me, correct?" His smile grows huge. "So play me all you want, nena."

Alice is blushing, she knows it, and she is thankful for Carlos' interruption.

"Vaas, time to go."

Vaas jumps to his feet, doesn't bother turning away as he rearranges his private bits in his trousers.

"You coming?"

Carlos and Alice exchange a confused look.

"I'm talking to her." 

"Me?"

"No, her." He laughs, pointing at Carlos. "Yeah, you. You coming?"

"Uh" she looks at Carlos, who shrugs. "Sure, where are we going?"

"To see Hoyt."

"I'm going to meet Hoyt?"

"You broken or something? Come on nena, follow me, let's go!"

On the way there, Vaas, Carlos and Alice share a car. Both of the pirates are sitting in the front, Alice is in the back. Another car with three other pirates is following them. So far, they've taken a car, a boat, and now another car as they drive through the southern island. Alice is enjoying the ride, although she does feel a bit nervous, considering the insane build up around Hoyt. She doesn't know why Vaas has decided that now is the right time to meet Hoyt, but she finds comfort in knowing that Vaas must be sure of himself. Also, Vaas is the craziest one on these islands, Alec said, so whatever this Hoyt is like, she's seen worse.

The southern island is surprisingly different to the northern one. It has steep cliffs, open plains, less forest. Alice finds that she prefers the jungle, as dangerous as it is. Compared to this barren, open land, the jungle feels like a shelter.

"So, you said it wasn't your first time." 

The question is so incredibly abrupt that Alice just blinks stupidly for a moment.

"Pardon?

"Earlier. When we were kissing. You said it wasn't your first time. I said 'is it your first time?' And you said to me 'not at all'. Not at all."

Carlos is right there. Right there.

"Uh... Yeah?"

"So?"

"So, what?"

"How many guys? How many times? Where?"

"Vaas, I don't really..."

Carlos clearly is enjoying himself. He is looking out the window, but Alice can see his reflection in the mirror. He is grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"How many guys?" Insists Vaas. "Twenty? Thirty?"

She takes the bait.

"No! Not at all, god, just one."

"Just one, huh?" He lets out an empty chuckle. "You know what that actually makes it worse, nena." When Carlos snorts, Vaas points a finger at him. "Shut the fuck up, hermano."

"Worse?"

"What's his name then?"

Alice takes a deep breath.

"Eric."

"And?"

"And what?"

This is actually turning from mortifying to entertaining. It's almost as if Vaas is jealous. Which is good, very good, it's useful, it's something she can definitely use. Oh god, I'm so evil.

"Eric what? Eric Cocksucker? Where is he from? You fucked him? Where, how many times?"

Carlos laughs again and this time Vaas punches his shoulder. Carlos pulls his bandana over his mouth, but his eyes are still smiling.

"Eric from Sweden. He's, uh... Swedish." She can see Vaas frowning in confusion. "You know, tall, blond... I met him when I was 16, we were together for about six years... So to answer your question, yes."

"Tall and blond, huh?" That's the exact opposite of Vaas, and he looks really annoyed now. "How many times then? Where?" Another loud snort from Carlos. "Hermano shut the fuck up."

"I don't know how many times, Vaas, a lot, we were together a long time. And I don't know where, a lot of places?"

"A lot of places, yeah? You fucked that white boy many times in a lot of places but you won't fuck me once on the bed?"

"Well I didn't just jump in his bed either!"

They remain silent for a while, Vaas scowling at the road, Carlos laughing to himself.

"You loved him?"

"Pardon?"

"The fuck, you heard me."

"Yes I did love him. I don't anymore, though. I never think about him."

Vaas is quiet, lost in his deep, probably murderous thoughts.

"You don't love me either though?"

That's an unexpected question. And a very, very awkward one. Luckily, by now Alice has finally learnt that honesty is the best way to communicate with Vaas. The pirate sees right through lies, and does not take kindly to them.

"Not yet. But I will. I really like you, Vaas, I will love you. Just... Not yet."

"Why not?"

"I just- need time, I think?"

He nods.

"What's his full name and address then?"

"I'm not telling you that, no way."

Carlos looks like he is having the time of his life.

"Stop laughing you fuck, you should be advising me hermano. I'm gonna break his fucking legs." Grumbles Vaas. "Fucking blond lover boy."


	15. Meeting Hoyt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the amazing response and support with this little story. Can't tell you how much I appreciate it, honestly I feel on top of the world when I get a comment!
> 
> In this chapter, a South African storm arrives, and Alice gets a rude awakening.
> 
> Enjoy :)

When they reach Hoyt's camp, Alice is in for a shock. If she thought Vaas' camp was huge, and heavily armed, it is nothing compared to the scale of things here.

Hoyt's men are called the Privateers. They wear yellow, are heavily and professionally armed. They swarm the place like an army of ants. Military helicopters leave and come in a never ending string of slapping spinning blades, and there are huge boats all along the coast. At the pirate camp, here is a sort of camaraderie between the pirates, an almost tangible aura of friendship. The pirates sit together, laugh, talk to each other in broken English. Here, the Privateers walk around wearing sunglasses, not talking to each other, and looking extremely self important.

Vaas' pirates walk all huddled close together, clutching their weapons, throwing challenging looks at any smug Privateer walking by. There is a definite look of contempt on the Privateers' faces as they pass them by, and a couple of them even go so far as to stare Alice up and down, predatory, and it doesn't escape the girl that the pirates have arranged themselves in a way which would make it impossible for anyone to get to her without pushing them out of the way. Vaas keeps her close, occasionally putting his arm around her, and Alice starts wishing she'd said no when he offered for her to come with him. There's a nagging feeling at the back of her mind that she is not going to like this, and that this is perhaps Vaas' way of making her pay for trying to leave.

Eventually they reach what looks like the main building, the most guarded of them all, and climb up some steps. At the top of the stairs, as they are about to enter a large room overlooking the seaside, a Privateer leers at Alice and offers to do a body search. Vaas' reaction is instant: the headbut is so fast the Privateer never sees it coming, and he stumbles to the ground, passed out. Vaas' pirates laugh, and Alice is left to wonder whether the pirate lord's face is in fact made of concrete.

"Vaas!" Calls a voice from inside the room.

"Ok you three motherfuckers stay here. Nena, Carlos, come with me."

They walk in. The room is fairly empty, it has a large desk facing away from the sea, and a small table in the corner where two men are seating down, one of them being Buck. Behind him, a bald, serious looking Privateer with a blond goatee eyes them carefully. The two men have cards in their hands. Buck waves happily at them, winks at Alice.

"Ah! Vaas! It's so nice to see you again. Have you had time to think about our little chat about Jason Brody?"

"Yes boss."

'Boss'? This must be Hoyt. Who else would Vaas call boss?  
Hoyt is a slim man in his forties, balding around his temples, and he wears a red shirt and a gold chain under a suit jacket. Neatly shaved, smelling very strongly of cologne. He doesn't exult madness and instability like Vaas does, but there is something about him, something that chills you to the core.

"Good, good." 

Alice cannot quite place his accent. Perhaps South African.  
Carlos takes place a couple of steps away from the table, his hands still on his weapon. Vaas joins the poker table, as silently instructed by Hoyt. A flick of the finger tells Alice she is to stand behind Vaas.

Hoyt looks her up and down with a hint of annoyance, as if she was some starved, flee infected but otherwise harmless street cat crashing his dinner party, begging for food. 

"And what might this be I wonder?" He says.

"That's Alice Ridley." Provides Buck, shuffling his cards. "She's British." He looks up to her. "British and what was it? Norwegian?"

"Swedish." Replies Alice, thrown off. She's never told him that. How does he know that?

"She likes diving." Continues Buck. "Though she doesn't know where to stop, isn't that right love?"

"I guess not."

"She's with me." Interrupts Vaas. "She's mine."

"Oh she's yours, is she?" Barks Hoyt. "Did you purchase her?"

"I caught her."

"And who do you catch slaves for, hey? She's been caught on my islands. She's my property. Have you bought her off me?"

Vaas is quiet for a few seconds. Hoyt looks at Alice, and she makes sure to avoid eye contact, and tries to look as miserable and boring as possible.

"I guess not, Hoyt." Concedes Vaas. He leans back in his chair. "How much?"

Oh god, this isn't right. This changes everything. Is this her punishment? Hoyt stands up, walks over to her. Alice clasps her hands behind her back, resists the urge to run out of the room. Counts the lights on the ceiling, counts each slap of the spinning fan. She silently prays for Vaas to intervene. He turns in his seat, looks at them, face unreadable. He's punishing me. Hoyt is circling her, sizing her up.

"She'd fetch a good price." Says Hoyt. "It's not every day you get a British girl. One that isn't fat, that is. Good job you're a swimmer." He tells her. His hand pinches her skin just below her bum, and Alice gives Vaas an imploring look. He sifts in his seat.

"How much, Hoyt?"

"How much are you willing to pay?" Then, he laughs. "What could you possibly offer that I don't already give to you in the first place?"

"How about Jason Brody's head?" Asks Vaas, and Hoyt stops dead in his tracks.

"You're getting Brody because I tell you to, Vaas!" He shouts, and a spray of spit hits Alice's cheek.

"How about I bring him in alive, huh? That way you get to do whatever you want with that white boy."

"You think I give a shit, whether he's dead or alive?" Hoyt resumes pacing around, eyeing the girl up and down.

Alice is scared. Very much so. This is it, this is retaliation. This is payback. Vaas is trying to hurt her. She's like an animal being eyed up for sale, she's about to become livestock. I get it, she tells him with her eyes, well fucking done to you, I get it, I am scared, can this stop now?

"You know boss," starts Vaas, crossing his hands on his lap, resting his foot on his knee. "Me and my boys are facing attacks from the rakyat all the fucking time. It's bad for business. Just the other day, some white boy sent by Citra killed eight of my men. Eight perfectly fine pirates."

This catches Hoyt's attention, and he stares at Vaas, his expression dark but cautious.

"I know your Privateers are allowed to fuck the pussy that gets here before it's sold, but see, my boys aren't allowed that. Damages the goods, you told me so yourself. It's hard to tell those horny fucks to keep it in their pants, especially when they risk their lives every fucking day, and they know your boys are having a party over here. Now we go to Badtown, sure, but it's always the same thing, you know what I mean? All profit goes to you. All pussy goes to you. The way I see it, me and the boys are in the frontline here. I lose men all the time, and I do it for you Hoyt, for the business, but it gets real tiring sometimes. I think one little pussy, to keep everyone in check, you know, to evacuate the stress, I don't think that's too much to ask for. Eight lives for one piece of British pussy."

Hoyt stays silent for what feels like an eternity. Then, and it is so unexpected that it makes Alice jump, he bursts out laughing.

"I like you Vaas. I like you because you're funny, and because you ain't stupid!" He claps, slaps Alice's bum, gives Vaas a pat on the back, walks back to his chair.

"Have her. But pace yourself, ok? Use protection. And don't share with too many boys. Don't want her to break too soon. Carlos you're gentle aren't you?"

"Yes sir."

"I like to reward my best men," continues Hoyt. "Bambi, you're happy with your reward, aren't you?"

"Yes Volker, I am. He cries all the time though, I think he misses home."

"Whiny, ungrateful fuck." Snorts Hoyt. "I won't be this generous again, Vaas. Once this one goes, there won't be another."

"Thank you, Hoyt."

"What's so special about you, then?"

It takes Alice a second to realise he is actually speaking to her, like she's sudenly become a person again. She knows there are tears, of anger or fear, welling up in her eyes, because to her they all look slightly distorted, colours mixing in a sickening blend.

"I don't know." She tells him honestly, and there's broken rage in her voice. "Must be the fact that I'm a mermaid." She adds, and there's a pregnant pause, before Hoyt guffaws again.

"There's a mouth on that one! You like that, Vaas, don't you? And a good pair of tits. She's all yours. But be careful Vaas: I giveth and I taketh."

That afternoon, Alice hears horrible, horrible things. Tales of slavery, rape, torture. Tales of men being made to run through rice fields infested with landmines. Tales of slaves being broken. She is spoken of as if she were nothing more than her genitals. Hoyt suggests knocking her teeth out for better access. The humiliation is unlike any she has ever experienced. Alice counts, counts, counts.

 

On the way back, Alice hides her tears by looking out the window, and seeks some alone time on the boat. Perhaps Vaas didn't mean this as a punishment? He wouldn't be so cruel, would he? Why didn't Vaas just keep her a secret? Then the answer comes to her. Buck must have told Hoyt, and Vaas thought it was best to make it look like he'd planned on telling Hoyt all along. Surely Vaas isn't going to share her with anyone, is he? He's been extremely possessive so far. Maybe he'll give her to the others once he's had his way with her? Is this the reprisal she's been waiting for? He's giving her a look at what she could be getting herself into?  
Or perhaps, Alice should really try and seduce him for good now, to ensure his loyalty? To make sure he realises he'd rather have her than let Hoyt take her away? If she makes an impression, this could work, no?

On the northern island, Vaas stops the car outside the camp.

"Ok, Carlos you get out here and you walk. Me and my sirenita are going swimming."

They drive to the spot where he'd taken her swimming on her birthday, after the incident at the doctor's house. As they make their way through the jungle, Alice is still battling with herself. For some reason, she doesn't think that Vaas would just hand her over to his men. She knows nothing of Jason Brody, but, were Vaas to fail in capturing or killing him, would this mean that Hoyt may decide to take her away? And would promising hot, sweaty, endless sex push Vaas towards choosing her over Hoyt? It's simple, really. Women and men have done this for centuries. It doesn't have to mean a thing. It's simple. So simple.

Just get him to forgive you.

On a lighter note, Alice is congratulating herself for always wearing bikinis as underwear. Over the last few weeks, Vaas has been randomly taking her swimming, without giving her the chance to get changed, and she suspects he does so in the hopes of catching her swimming naked. When they reach the beach, the sun is already fairly low in the sky, and it looks like they may only get an hour in the water before having to drive home for the night. Home. That's what the pirate camp feels like to her, now. What a disturbing thought.

Without a word, Alice takes off her clothes, leaves them on a pile on top of her shoes, and walks to the water. When she gets in up to her thighs, Alice turns around. Vaas is still on the beach, hands in his pockets, looking at his shoes. He must have been able to tell she was upset and angry, perhaps knows she knows taking her there is a way of punishing her, because he's pretty much left her alone on the way back, and doesn't usually take her swimming this late. 

The truth is, Hoyt, and everything he represents, everything he's implied or just plain said, has absolutely terrified Alice to the core, and for the first time she feels that she truly appreciates just how 'soft' Vaas is being with her. Because, in her misery, Alice is actually bloody lucky that it is Vaas who climbed first on their boat, Vaas whom she rescued from drowning, Vaas who caught her, and not someone like Hoyt or Buck. Keith is a slave, Alice has finally realised. A sex slave. It could have been her. She is a prisoner, true, and not a day passes without Vaas bulldozing his way through yet another one of her personal boundaries, but, in his own way, Vaas is respecting her, and looking after her. His psychosis is the most blessed thing Alice has ever come accross.

Alice feels like she's finally uncovered a more basic, animalistic side of herself, and she truly understands what is at stakes. Morals and boundaries mean nothing, this is survival, the predators are real and ready to eat her alive.

If this brutal epiphany was in Vaas' plan all along, then he's succeeded.

She needs someone like Vaas on her side, now more than ever. She cannot let herself be caught by Hoyt.

"Vaas!" She calls, and he looks up from the ground. "Are you coming in?"

She can see his eyebrows shooting up briefly before he schools his face.

"What?" He shouts back.

"Are you coming in?" Repeats Alice, and she motions for him to join her in the water. "The water's nice."

Slowly, uncertainly, giving her plenty of time to change her mind, Vaas removes his shoe, then the other, pulls his top over his head, marks a long pause before undoing and taking off his cargo pants. He's not wearing underwear, as usual, and Alice looks away. He's rather handsome, whispers her mind. No, scratch that. He's hot. That's the word. Plain and simple. And he is right. She should be grateful. The pirate to abduct her could have been horrible looking, but Vaas really isn't. Frightening, intimidating, savage looking, but attractive, in his own way.

He walks to the water, not at all bothered by his own nudity.

"You sure?" He smiles, approaching her.

"Sure" says Alice, and she starts walking towards deeper water. When she is standing only on her tiptoes, Alice begins to swim. She's isn't looking at him, but she can hear Vaas moving very close by. There's a tension in the air, despite the calm atmosphere, as if they both know what's coming. It's making Alice's face tingle nicely, and her heart beat an almost painful rhythm. She can feel his eyes on her.  
When she can no longer handle the tension, Alice turns and swims to him, stopping right in front of him. He is watching her with an expectant look on his face, and for once he isn't chatting away.

"The water's nice, isn't it?" She says

He nods, knowing smile in place.

"You're beautiful." He tells her.

Alice does not do seduction.

"I think you're really attractive." Awkwardly replies Alice, who tries to dip her head in the water to hide the furious blush spreading accross her cheeks.  
Vaas doesn't let her though, as he reaches for her face and brings it to his. She is the one to lean in though, and press her lips to his. It is nice, salty. 

Make him forgive you. Don't give him a choice.

Again, it is her who wraps her arms around his neck and holds on to him, her who seeks his tongue first and deepens the kiss. He doesn't say a thing, thankfully, and responds to her kiss. She presses herself against him, feeling his nakedness in the water, and his hands find their way to her body, roaming her back, keeping her close. Not that she is trying to escape. Vaas has water up to his chin but he is still standing, not yet swimming, and Alice wraps her legs around his middle, which causes him to let out a startled groan.

"Is this ok?" She breathes out.

"Fuck yeah," he says, claiming her lips again, his hand travelling from her back to her bum, pushing her close, pressing her centre against his hard stomach. His kiss is possessive, loving, punishing, apologetic, and she all but melts into him, not bothering to be embarrassed over her own quiet moans of pleasure.   
Alice has forgotten all about her initial plan, which was to keep him so keen he would choose her over his psychopathic boss. Instead, everything is lost in his kiss, and how good it feels to be this close to someone, how safe his arms make her feel, how wonderful and exciting and satisfying it is to be this intimate again with a man (it is still easier for her to think a man, rather than this man). His stubble will leave red marks on her chin, she knows it, and her lips are swelling already, but it feels so, so good, and when he finally pulls away the sunset is nearly over.  
Vaas rests his forehead against hers, breathing softly.

"Guess Hoyt really freaked you out, huh?"

Alice freezes. He's read right through her. Once again. He knows that's why she's suddenly being so frisky. Sensing the change, Vaas digs his fingers into her flesh, in case she tried to swim away.

"Yes." She admits. Honesty, honesty is what works. "He has. I'm so glad you were the one to find me." She laughs, and she can hear the tears in her voice.

"I think you found me." Replies Vaas, loosening his hold slightly. "You were the one to get me out of the water.".

She likes his voice, too. It is soft, a bit hoarse, and she likes his accent.

"I'm really scared of Hoyt." Admits Alice, and she doesn't know where this sudden spontaneity of speech is coming from. "He said he could take me away..."

"Nobody's going to take you away. You're my sirenita, no? We've got a deal. You're gonna stay with me forever. Remember what I told you after you shot that piece of fuck?"

Alice hears but does not process. Is that what the plan is, pretending to the point of never mentioning the truth?

" I said you're all wrapped in my brain and my heart, he'll have to tear both out if he wants to take you away from me. It's not going to happen. He needs me. He needs my men. They won't work for him, and he knows it. They hate his fucking guts."

"And you? Do you hate him?"

"I owe him." Says Vaas, and the bitterness in his tone of voice makes it clear that the conversation stops there. "I said I'd protect you, nena." His voice is soft again. "And that's what I'm gonna do. Now let's go, it's nearly dark, if tigers come for us you're on your own, sirenita. Tomorrow you start your shooting training, I need you well rested." He smiles mischievously. "But we can continue this at home if you insist?"

They walk back to the beach, get dressed. Before Vaas has time to say anything else, Alice gives him a crushing hug, and it is, for once, completely unplanned,completely gratuitous. He puts his arms around her, dips his head until his lips connect with her neck. She hears him sigh, knows he's closed his eyes. There's nothing sexual about the hug, and somehow it feels much more intimate, much more personal, than being half naked in the water together, and Alice pulls away, overwhelmed.  
Vaas lets her slip away, but at the last second his hand catches her arm.

"Look at me" he instructs, and she complies. "Do you remember the deal?"

"Yes." Answers Alice, worried. Has she done something wrong? Is she about to be further punished for her attempted escape? Is he going to spank you? Provides her mind, not helping.

"Ok. Good. Because the deal said, I agree to your conditions, and you stay loyal to me, never leave me, never make me choose. It said you're going to do your best to fall in love with me. No?"

"Yes. I am doing my best, I promise."

"I'm just checking with you because, I said 'fall in love with me', I didn't say 'put on a nice little girlfriend show'. Ok, if it don't happen it don't happen, but you must try your best ok? We're perfect for each other. It's a matter of time before you realise that, and I'm patient."

She nods, feels a blush creeping up from her neck to her cheeks. Looks like he wasn't too impressed with her little display earlier. She sees him seeing the blush and she looks away. His fingers go to her chin, turn her back to him. Stares straight into her eyes.

"If I want someone to pretend to give a shit about me, all I need to do is go to Badtown. This isn't what this is." He is gesturing between them. "This is for real. Don't you forget that, nena."

As they drive back, Vaas' hand finds hers on her lap, and Alice's eyes start welling up again.

 

There is nothing simple about this.


	16. Trust no one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, can't believe the amazing support I'm getting with this tiny little story. :) thank you!!
> 
> I'd like to apologise in advance, I may not be publishing as often now because of it being Christmas time and me having loads of family around (makes writing awkward), but I am not giving up, no way, and the plot thickens like gravy!!
> 
> I have a little question for anyone reading this story: what do you think Alice looks like? So far I've let her description fairly blank, so people could imagine what they wanted, and now I'm a bit curious to find out what you've been imagining. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy, on with the show!

When they get back to his shack, Vaas gathers her into his arms again and gives her one last, possessive, slightly aggressive hug before letting her escape to the relative safety of the bedroom. As she lies in bed, Alice is surprised to find that, for the first time in months, perhaps years, she is tempted to touch herself, to quench the burning in her body. It isn't a feeling she is comfortable with, and she shies away from it, instead tossing and turning for a good two hours before finally falling into a restless sleep, punctuated by vivid dreams that will make her blush for days.

Vaas is true to his word, and for the next couple of weeks he takes at least one to two hours a day to teach her to shoot, reload, shoot again. They start with a classic handgun, and when he is roughly satisfied with her progress he gives her a machine gun, which reveals itself to be surprisingly easy to manoeuvre.

"So easy a child could use it." Comments Alice, and Vaas chokes on his mango. It wasn't meant to be a joke, but if that's how he takes it, then all the better.

She shoots at bottles, cans, tree trunks, and on one occasion Vaas makes her close her eyes and shoot at something. 'Come on, I promise it's not your dog,' he tells her, and when Alice hears the loud thud of the dead thing hitting the ground her brain goes into denial mode and she tells herself it was a deer.

Once Vaas is happy with her progress on the machine gun, he passes her a shotgun. The thing is, Alice has grown in a deeply pacifist family, both her parents having not quite given up on the whole hippy philosophy and way of life, and once, as she was a little girl and they were all still together, the family of three travelled to the United States just to take part in an anti-gun law protest. At present, she is holding a shotgun, using her armpit to minimise the kickback, like Vaas taught her, and she slowly comes to the realisation that this is her favourite weapon so far. There is something surprisingly satisfying about the loud noise, the kickback, the necessity to push the empty shell out like they do in films. A self satisfied smile stretches her lips when he hits target, and she actively seeks new bullets, actively asks Vaas about angle and distance. 

Unsurprisingly, her eagerness turns out to be a major turn on for him.

Since they started her training, Vaas has been using it as a very clear excuse to touch Alice, standing behind her, holding her hands as she holds the weapons, whispering instructions into her ear, brushing her hair out of his way to her neck, resting his hands on her hips and waist. But when she starts using the shotgun, and takes obvious, reluctant pleasure in doing so, his presence at her back now reveals the hardening bulge in his trousers, and his whispers of encouragement take on a semi sexual connotation.

"That's it, yeah, you're doing real good, keep going, fuck yeah..." He says, pressed against her back, his voice hot and husky on her neck, his fingers twitching on her hips. And that's only for what he says in English.

Other pirates occasionally watch them, and if she is at first embarrassed by her proximity with Vaas, this soon turns into feelings of pride as Alice rejoices in his loud, emphatic expressions of delight whenever she hits the target. Once, she scores so well,from further than ever before, that the pirates clap their hands and cheer, and Alice salutes them.

Her relationship with Vaas seems to have healed, and Alice is grateful for the second chance. She has not forgotten the afternoon she spent in Hoyt's base, being pinched at like she was a piece of meat. Next time she attempts an escape, if there is one, she's got to succeed, and it's got to be much better planned. She won't rely on anyone ever again, she'll plan it all out herself. If someone can ever really know Vaas, truly, then she is probably the closest thing to it. She's got the advantage of knowing a simple, essential fact Tim had never learnt: in all his madness, Vaas is extremely clever, and there is no outwitting him. But, she also knows that for some reason, he craves her attention and wants her love all to himself. He is progressing in uncharted territory, because he wants real love, genuine affection, and that is not something he has ever sought before, consequently he is struggling between the need to be Alice's captor, and the all too real necessity of trading carefully, as one step too far in the wrong direction would lose her to him forever. There cannot be true love where there is fear and resentment, but he cannot ensure that she will remain with him unless he uses fear, and thus causes resentment.

Still, he proves his good will to her by suggesting she visits 'her amigo the doctor', and shows his trust by giving her enough money to pay for the pirates' order. Or perhaps, he is still apologising for a certain incident which occurred a few days before and which Alice does not like thinking about.   
Nevertheless, she knows it is a test, and knows better than to try and use that money to escape. Gaining Vaas' trust, escaping, this all will take a lot longer than she had ever thought it would. She just secretly hopes that by the time she is able to leave, she will remember that she wants to, and that's another frightening realisation to come to.

Alice drives up to the doctor's house, picks up the heavy envelope full of money and walks to the greenhouse. The holster on her hips and the heavy handgun in it feel foreign, but it is more the unfamiliar weight than the act of carrying a weapon that she finds disturbing. She has taken to wearing the sneakers every day, with shorts (it's easier to avoid Vaas' wandering hands in shorts) and a t-shirt with a low neckline (always better for ensuring Vaas' good humour). Her hair has grown, and it is down to the middle of her back by now. Vaas provides her with plenty of sweet smelling shampoo and conditioner, and has developped a semi obsession with her locks, asking if he can brush them. When she agrees, he actually thanks her, and there is so much gentleness in the way he untangles the long hair that Alice very nearly nods off on more than one occasion. She often feels teary eyed afterwards, because once again, these gentle attentions feel more intimidate than his hardly subtle groping, and it is getting increasingly difficult to remember what she wants.

"Dr Earnhardt?" Alice calls. The greenhouse is empty.

She walks to the house, finds it unlocked. 

"Alec?" She calls again, without success. 

There is no one upstairs, no one around the back.

Hands on her hips, Alice looks around the front of the mansion. The doctor's car is still there, but where is he?  
She walks to the edge of the cliff, looks at the sea. No one, not even a boat. Just as she is about to turn around and start walking back to her car, she hears shuffling through branches down below, and sure enough, it is the doctor, making his way back from the bottom of the cliff.

She waits until he reaches the top, and once he starts dusting himself up she says:

"Hello, Alec, how are you doing?"

He jumps so hard his hand clasps at his heart.

"Alice!! Oh my gosh, you scared me, girl!"

"What were you doing?" Laughs Alice, leaning forward to look down the cliff. "Did you just climb up here?"

"I-uh, yes, I-uh, I have in fact climbed up here because I-uh... What are you doing here?"

"I'm bringing this," she says, holding the envelope up. " I'm collecting Vaas' order. So what's down there?"

"Nothing, nothing. The order, um?"

"It can't be nothing if it's worth you actually climbing up and down this cliff... I mean, that's physical exercise, you know." She teases.

He lets out a dry laugh, waves at nothing.

"Yes uh, I just uh... I was collecting mushrooms."

"Mushrooms?"

"Yes. From the cave underneath."

He sounds funny, Alice suddenly realises. He's lying. She looks at him, trying to find the mushrooms. He catches her doing so.

"There weren't any." He explains, and she can see he is shaking. "So uh, you've come here on your own then? Vaas is trusting you with jobs now? Are you one of the team?" He is teasing back, clearly trying to steer her away from further questions.

"Yes, apparently." She complies, following as he hurries to the greenhouse.

"Well, good for you. There aren't many people Vaas trusts with his, uh... Package."

He is febrile, rummaging through his plants and under his work tops until he finds a brown box.

"Here it is. Syringes, pills, mushrooms, weed... This should last them a while. I suppose it depends how bored they are." He chuckles.

Alice hands him the envelope.

"Alec... Are you hiding something?"

"If I was, I wouldn't tell you, would I my dear?" He smiles. "Let's leave it at that. Is that alright?" He insists, and she suddenly realises that she is now a source of fear to him. If Vaas really trusts her, then she has in fact become one of the pirates, and the doctor must be feeling he needs to treat her differently. Alice nods, taken aback.

"Sure. Fine. So uh, what's new?"

"New? Oh uh, not much I guess. You must have heard about Buck, and the hostages? What do you make of it?"

"Pardon?"

"Haven't you heard? Buck was killed about two days ago, and his little sex slave was taken away. It's the third hostage that manages to escape."

"What??"

"Did you really not know?" He is genuinely surprised. "It's that Jason Brody. Him and his friends were caught a good few weeks ago, you were here then I think. There were eight of them. One got killed on the day, another was shot in the evening. Brody escaped."

Eight hostages, one killed on the day. Sliced open, his intestines a wet, steaming pile on a bamboo floor. Vaas pacing the line like a madman. How many bamboo branches to make a roof?

"He's gone and taken his girlfriend out first, and his blond friend managed to escape an outpost on her own. Now he's killed Buck to rescue his other friend, the one Buck was gifted by Hoyt."

"God." Breathes Alice. From what she's gathered, Buck was a professional hitman, so not an easy target. Three escapees, and still no Jason Brody, that cannot be good news. Hoyt giveth and taketh.

"Yes. I'm surprised you haven't heard about this, he's been killing a lot of Vaas' men, and he's taken a lot of outposts down. He works with the Rakyat, Citra to be more exact. Vaas has been getting very annoyed over Jason Brody."

Now that Alec mentions it, Alice has no choice but to recall that fateful evening, a few days ago, when Vaas returned at the end of the day in the foulest mood she had ever seen him in. He had walked into the shack where Alice was sitting on the floor playing with the dog, he'd kicked the dog out and Alice had just had time to get to her feet with a question on her lips before he'd pounced on her, pushing her to the wall, pinning her there. His touch had been aggressive, pushy, his kisses almost painful, his hips pushing into hers, and one of his hands had come to lift her leg up above his hip as he rubbed himself against her, grunting. The whole of Alice's being had gone into panic mode, freezing, refusing to cooperate, refusing to even process what was happening, what could be happening, what could soon be happening, and her mind left her body, went to count the DVDs on the shelf, count the seconds as they went by, everything but his dry thrusts into her unresponsive self. He'd pulled her hair, bit her shoulder, and as this finally drew a pained cry out of her he'd stopped. He'd remained against her for a bit, blocking her between him and the wall, then his head had crashed into the wall by her side, and again, and again. He then let go of her leg and she slipped out of his grasp, ran to the bedroom and hid there, her hand over her mouth to stifle her sobs. She'd heard him hitting his head against the wall a few more times, until he'd finally stopped and stumbled to the settee.

He'd truly scared her that night.

It wasn't so much the forceful, animalistic assault on her, than the way he'd repeatedly hit his head against the wall afterwards when he'd come to his senses. It was just so violent, so unexpected, so repetitive, so... So just plain crazy.

Ironically, that night,the urge to touch herself got so embarrassingly strong that Alice had even slapped herself, hoping to knock some sense into her damaged mind.  
She'd been more than happy to pretend it never happened, smiling and meeting his intense gaze as he brought her breakfast and puppy in bed the next morning. She'd not thought of it since, had not once given him so much as a reproachful look, not responded to the careful side looks he'd kept throwing her way, pretended not to notice his gentle attentions.

Now that Alec had mentioned the troubles Vaas was obviously having, Alice understood the mechanics behind his sudden attack of crazy.

"Yes, I noticed he was annoyed." She agrees, and shies away from the doctor's prying eyes.

"Yes, well... The one thing he isn't annoyed with, is you." Says Alec, trying to lighten the mood. "He tells everyone the story of how you shot your friend to protect him."

This is it, Alice realises. This is what the doctor has heard. He's heard that she's murdered her own friend in cold blood, for Vaas. That's why he no longer trusts in their friendship.

"I still don't know who actually did kill Tim." Confides Alice.

"You don't?" Enquires the doctor. His eyes seek hers. "You truly don't?"

She shakes her head. There's a nagging at the back of her mind, and it is mirrored in Alec's eyes, but Alice is not ready to listen to it yet. She's doesn't know who killed Tim, and that's the end of it. Unexpectedly, the doctor lets out a chuckle.

"Are you sure you don't want some shrooms, my dear?"

Alice rolls her eyes, takes a few steps away.

"No, thank you. You can trust me, Alec. For real."

His laughter dies, and his eyes turn sad.

"What did I tell you, dear? Do not trust anyone here."

As Alice drives back, she thinks of Alec's funny attitude that day. She is sure he is hiding something from her, something probably terrible, likely to earn him the death sentence from Vaas. And how did he know the hostages' hair colour, the exact nature of their relationship to Jason Brody? Alice makes a conscious choice to stop thinking of it, stop proding at it. Whatever it is that Alec is hiding under his cliff, she is better off not knowing, especially if Vaas finds out. He won't forgive her betrayal twice.

Further down the road, she is stunned to find people on the road, people that aren't pirates that is. There are two of them, a middle aged couple, locals, and a smoking car in the middle of the road, blocking it. Alice stops. They look harmless, slightly fat, wave apologetically to her, point to their damaged car.

She glances at the brown box at her side, clicks the safety off her gun. Walks out.

"You're ok?" She calls out, keeping her distance.

"Hello!" They reply. "Rusak."

"Broken, is it?"

The truth is, Alice is actually not bad at fixing car engines, something she has learnt from Eric, and she walks over to the couple, unable to resist the urge to show off her skills. These are the first people she meets in weeks, the first non criminals, and she has the chance to do something helpful. Vaas might even be impressed with her mechanical skills. That and the shotgun, she thinks, you're going to break the poor boy.

"Do you want us to have a look? I take a look?" Offers Alice, her hand still on her weapon.

She sees the couple eyeing the red tie on her arm.

"It's ok," she says, "I can help."

She gets to the car, looks into the engine.

"I don't know why it's steaming, " she tells the man to her right, "everything looks fine..."

She catches something in his eyes. It is so imperceptible, so subtle, that she may have felt it, not seen it. The pupil dilates, his nostril flares, there's a nervous twitch at the corner of his mouth. Alice whips around in time to see the woman with a black bag in her hands, looking at her, awfully close to her. She jerks away, pulls her weapon out as the woman charges. Without thinking, without aiming, Alice fires, hitting her somewhere in the gut. She falls to the floor,screaming, as Alice turns to the man. Behind him, a lot more men, armed men, come out of the jungle. They all look local, and Alice instantly knows. These are the Rakyat. 

Oh god, there's so many of them. They've got machine guns. She should have brought hers. What's happening? One makes a move towards her and she shoots again, hitting him in the head, a perfect shot, Vaas would be so proud of me. Four more charge, weapons up, shouting at ther to drop her gun, but Alice is too scared to use her reasoning. She fires at them all, hitting and missing, killing, crippling, but more swarm out of the dark woods and soon enough the gun is out of her hands, she is being pulled, grabbed, she trips over the corpses she's created as the warriors drag her to another car parked further on. She fights, screams, wonders why they don't just kill her, wonders if Vaas will think she's tried escaping again, wonders if these men were sent by Hoyt, and eventually all thoughts stop as Alice is hit at the back of the head.

Everything turns to dark.


	17. All is Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello there.
> 
> I thought I'd try and write a Vaas centric chapter, to see. This could be a massive f*** up, but hey! I can always take it off.
> 
> Thank you once more for the amazing support and response I am getting with this story, honestly you're amazing :)

So Vaas is mad, there's no denying it. 

He knows he's mad, but he likes to think he isn't insane. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting things to change, and that certainly isn't what Vaas does. He's trying out different things, he's using his brains. He thinks of madness as a refusal of limits. Insanity is repetition.

He's killed Jason Brody three times now, differently each time.

He's burned him. With gasoline, to make sure.

He's drowned him. With a stone attached to his foot, to make sure.

He's shot him. In the heart, to make sure.

When the helicopter crashed, his men told Vaas there was no way Jason could have survived it, but Vaas went to the site of the crash anyways and found Brody very much alive, so he'd shot the white boy. Point blank.

They took his body and threw it in an open grave, went back to the camp to celebrate, but Vaas still couldn't shake the nagging feeling at the back of his head, that somehow, somehow, Jason Brody had survived. So he got up, in the early hours of the morning, left his mermaid asleep in the next room, and drove alone to the mass grave.

And Vaas saw. 

Dead bodies pushed up, moved away unceremoniously, their death shining white under the night sky. And Vaas dug. He searched. He spent hours looking, and Jason Brody was nowhere to be found. He'd crawled out, like some sort of undefeatable cockroach. He'd been killed for the third fucking time and he still wasn't fucking dying. 

Why didn't I shoot him in his fucking head?!

A loud bang as Vaas hits his head against the car door. And again.

Why didn't I kill him when I did his brother? Why wasn't he the one he'd sliced open?

Jason Brody is killing his men, killing his mind.

All for fucking Citra.

He does feel for Jason, to a certain extent. He relates to him, he knows what it feels like to have his sister's eyes look at you with admiration. Makes you feel on top of the fucking world, way up in the skies. Why didn't I kill that bitch when I had the chance?

Bang, his head against the car. And again. And again. One more time.

In the evening, Vaas drove back to camp. It was that fucking lighter, wasn't it? How very fucking ironic. What a fucking joke, fucking hilarious. Vaas liked jokes but he certainly wasn't laughing now.  
The other day he'd been interrogating rakyat warriors, the ones Jason Brody was so intent on getting out for his twisted bitch of a sister, and a prisoner would not utter a single word, so Vaas cut out his tongue, fed it to a cat, because the cat got his tongue, do you get it? It was funny, no? Finding a fucking cat had been fucking hard, too.

He got to camp and ignored the others. He pushed past Carlos, the only one who seemed to actually understand him on a certain level. Carlos had seen him walking furiously towards his shack and he just have guessed his intentions because he'd tried stopping him. Vaas himself wasn't even sure what his intentions were, he just felt the craving like never before. He craved her.

That fucking dog was in the way, why did she love that dog? Vaas was the human one, he showered, he took her swimming, he didn't lick his own fucking balls for fuck' sake, why couldn't she just fucking love him already?

He threw the dog out, and the next thing he knew he had her against the wall. His mermaid, his nena, and he rubbed against her, each movement sending jolts of electricity throughout his entire body, whipping his brains, quieting the nagging, killing Brody, smashing Citra's teeth out, quenching the thirst and scratching the itch. He grunted like an animal, choked desperately like he was drowning and licked her skin, her tender skin, then he bit her shoulder.

The agreement said that if she touched him in any way, he could touch her too.

She'd agreed to that. He didn't make it the fuck up.

She was the one who'd wrapped her legs around him, back there at the beach, in the water, she was the one who'd rubbed herself against him, driving him insane, FUCK, did she have any fucking idea of what she was doing to him?? Playing him like that? Putting on that kind of sick show?

She'd agreed to the fucking deal, so why was she crying out in pain? Why wasn't she responding?

Puta madre. He'd felt a tear on his cheek, and it sure as fuck wasn't fucking his.

Vaas stopped. He couldn't look at her.

You're such a fucking pendejo, hermano. Way to fucking go. She's gonna love you now.

Bang, his head against the wall.

He dropped her leg, and she fled, she escaped him, she ran to save her tight, round little ass from him and his dirty dick. Hid in the room. His room. He heard her sob, and he hit his head again, and again, and again, again, again, and colours and thoughts and smells melted together then faded and he crashed onto the couch.

It was fun, at first. Meeting a mermaid, being saved, being deemed worth saving by such a beautiful creature. Making her fall in love him had seemed like fun, like a positive thing, something to look forward to and something light hearted and good. He'd been a warrior, a brother, a commander, a film director, and now he fancied himself a lover. Maybe that's what he truly is, his real self.

Now it feels like a matter of life and death, she's grown into his mind and heart like a delicious cancer, and he needs her to love him back. For real. He needs those eyes to look at him with love, needs to wake up at her side each day, needs her to say sweet things to him and only him, without fear, just genuine love and affection. He needs her to blush as he makes her laugh, needs her touch. Her gentle, loving touch. Her beautiful lips. He wants her moans of pleasure, her words of love, her laughter, her children. 

He doesn't know how to make a woman love him, he's never been loved by one. His mother saw his rapist father in him, heard him in Vaas' voice. Citra told him she loved him, but it wasn't the right kind. She wanted him to fuck her. Asked more of him, always more. Kill more. Fight more. Fuck me more. She wanted his child. That couldn't have been love, right? Not the right kind.  
Alice is kind. She is gentle. Understanding. She doesn't demand anything, other than basic respect. She is prepared to fall for him. She's killed to defend him, and this must mean that she will love him, one day, like he loves her. Combing her hair is the best moment of his day. It's the most intimate he's ever been with anyone. More intimate even than being balls deep in a girl's pussy. It's so intimate that he feels his eyes welling up each time, especially when she closes her eyes, trusting, and hums quietly, her head tilted back. She trusts him. Through her, Vaas knows he is worthy of trust. It is in her eyes that Vaas sees his worth, and his self.

When he masturbates, he doesn't just think of making love to Alice, he thinks of quiet little scenes, like her making breakfast as he holds her, resting his chin on her shoulder, like himself waking up to find her wrapped over him in her sleep, like her jumping to his neck when he comes home in the evening. Then they have sex, too. She's fucking him as much as he's fucking her, they look each other in the eyes and he makes her come, with his cock, his fingers, his mouth. His sexiest fantasies, the ones that get him off the quickest, aren't about her pleasuring him, but the other way around. They're about her telling him she loves him as she comes like she's never done before.

He wants to be the man she loves and respects.

Not her fucking rapist.

Atoning to her has been easier than he expected. She simply did not mention his disgusting behaviour, she just carried on as normal. Except she doesn't look at him anymore, and it's like he's disappearing, because he can't see himself in her eyes anymore.

Desperate to make ammends, Vaas gave her the money to get his order from the doctor, letting her escape the camp. He's got to be redeemed in her eyes, otherwise he'll fade, he'll forget who he is, and he's clinging on to himself, the version of himself he sees through her, even if it means letting her go.

Because, what Alice didn't know when she'd left, was that Vaas had put more money than necessary in the envelope, and her passport had been in there too.

He hadn't had the courage to sell it, he liked reading it too much. It told him her name, birthday, where she was born, where she'd been, how long for.

And he'd put it in the envelope, giving her a chance. If she looked inside, she'd see more than enough money to leave the island, and she'd have her passport. Her way out. Her chance to leave his sorry self. His chance to hold on to that Vaas he saw in her eyes when she smiled at him. The one he saw before he fucked it all up.

It's all Jason's fault, and they're both so fucked. So, so fucked.

Letting her go and not chasing after her immediately is the hardest thing he's ever done. Harder even than accepting that Citra's love was not the right kind of love.

If she doesn't look, all would be well for him.

If she leaves, all would be well for her.

If she looks but chooses to stay, Vaas would abandon his life, abandon the island, his name, his fortune, Hoyt, anything she asked of him, he'd do anything for her love, and all would be well for both of them.

The wait is agonising.

By dusk, she still hasn't returned, and Vaas decides to investigate. She's obviously chosen to leave him, and how could he blame her? He's broken the deal first, forcing her into something sexual, her words exactly. The world comes crashing down, because she's swum out of his life, tearing his heart and brains on her way out, and all that is left is Hoyt, Brody, Citra, his failures, and that ugly ass dog. Vaas is no one again.

He drives up to the doctor's house, but a couple of kilometres before the mansion Vaas sees what looks like a bloodbath blocking the road ahead. He gets out, followed by Carlos. There is a car, its front bonnet open, and dead bodies all alround. His nena's car is further along, door open. Vaas runs to it. The package is there. Untouched. She's bought it for him, like they agreed. She hasn't run. Did she look?

Her gun is on the floor, and there is a white bag underneath it. Vaas picks it up, opens it.

The first thing that comes out is a piece of paper, signed C for Cunt, or more likely Citra. It says to give the hostages back for the life of his girl. If he doesn't comply, they'll cut more of her off.

It is cold that night, suddenly. Vaas has always felt the heat more than others, but tonight, he is freezing, inside and out. His hand searches the bottom of the bag.

Something soft, so soft, sweet smelling. His fingers lacing through soft locks, like feathers. Shampoo and conditioner. He's watched skinny YouTube bitches to find out which hair products are the best.

He pulls it all out, slowly. It reflects the moonlight. 

It doesn't matter if she's looked into the envelope or not. She's chosen to stay. She was coming back to him. What's in the bag?

His mermaid's beautiful, long hair, chopped off.

Citra did it.

Everything turns to red.


	18. Flying high and sinking low

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Alice gets high, and sinks loooow.... 
> 
> Thanks ever so much for your amazingly kind words, kudos and support with this story, I can't even tell you how amazing it feels to see people are enjoying the story. Thank you!! Really :) hope you all had an amazing Christmas time and are looking forward to a great New Year's Eve.

When she wakes, Alice is still in the dark. Her head feels like a stone, she can hardly move it. The air is sparse. Her temples beat. She's at the bottom of a tank full of water, but that cannot be right, because she'd be dead. She falls back to sleep.

When she wakes again, Alice understands that she is on a stone floor, it is hot, it is nighttime judging from the noises around her. Her hands are tied up tight behind her back, the gun and holster have gone. There's a pulsating pain at the back of her head. Bright geometrical shapes all round. The bag has finally been removed. Alice manages to push herself up, and blinks her eyes open. 

She's somewhere she's never been before. There are fires lit around, giving off an orange glow in the blackness of the night. The walls are grey, there are plants growing out of them and piercing through the paving stones. It may be her imagination but it seems as if the plants are waving at her. The place looks like the inside of some sort of temple, far deeper in the jungle than Alice had ever hoped to venture to. She is feeling more awake,and she remembers, shameful, how easy she was to catch. 

But who caught her?

Hoyt? This looks nothing like his camp. Plus, his Privateers weren't local people. 

Her abductors were more likely to be either another faction of pirates, or the Rakyat, these warriors Vaas and his pirates keep having to clash with. Why would they want her? Because of her link to Vaas? Why not just kill her, then? What are they planning on bargaining her for? Vaas would never agree to whatever deal they have in mind. 'Dont make me choose', he said. He wouldn't give anything up for her. She just hopes he doesn't think she left with the money.

As her eyes search her surrounding, Alice becomes gradually more and more aware of how strange her head feels. That is, the weight of it. It is lighter than normal. She moves it from side to side, looks down. Then she gets it. 

Her hair's been chopped off.

Not all of it, but it has been drastically reduced, roughly chopped up to her neck or chin, when it used to graze her waist. It's a messy cut, she can tell, and the rest of her hair is nowhere to be seen. Vaas is going to be upset about this, she thinks. All the bright shapes are flying and coming out of each other, it's like a kaleidoscope. Is something wrong with her brain?

Alice is more puzzled than frightened, and upon hearing footsteps she looks up to see two very big, very muscly, very tattooed men holding AK-47s. They scowl at her, and she just responds with a questioning shrug. Perhaps it was the blow to the head, perhaps she's finally lost her marbles, but Alice does not feel herself. Or rather, she is herself, but a reduced version, a version that has no fear and no survival instinct. A version that sees colour and forgets gravity. Or maybe she's just given up, maybe she's surrendered to the madness of the island, maybe she's at a point where nothing can scare her, and she's got nothing to lose.

"What?" She asks, and her voice breaks into a chuckle.

No. This isn't right. Is.... Is she high?!

The two warriors seem unsure, exchange a look.

"Yeah I think you gave me something a bit strong mate," she laughs again. "Oops, hey?"

They walk to her, grab her arms and pull her to her feet.

"Oopsie daisy!"

The smell of them assaults her nose, as they drag her along a stone corridor. Fish fly past them, melt into the walls.

"Wow someone's a sweaty Betty, bloody hell! It's not me is it? You're not nervous are you?"

She is taken up some stairs, her knees hitting each step, but Alice feels no pain either. This being high thing isn't so bad, she thinks, she could get used to this. In fact, she could have done with being like this right about ages ago, when she first got sucked into this mess.

When they reach the top, it's like a King Kong movie set. Stone walls surround them, the jungle around, dark and deep, and the night sky freckled with sparkling stars above their heads. Fires everywhere, and Alice is dragged to the centre of the opening, and they untie her, tie her again, this time with her arms in the air and her feet barely touching the ground. Like Vaas' hostages were! She thinks happily.

The rakyat are all around, armed, staring at her with very hostile looks on their faces. Alice had thought they were all local, the original inhabitants of the island, and is surprised to see that many look foreign. They stare like they hate her. But why? Do they think she killed Tim? She did kill a couple of them when they caught her... Or is it because she is Vaas' girlfriend? She snorts. 

Girlfriend.

She can hear them whispering to each other, sounding mean and menacing in the dark. Alice fights against her bindings, without success. She feels like she is surrounded by bees, aggressive bees, bees ready to plunge on her any second.

Suddenly, everything stops. All heads turn to a particular rakyat who has just made an appearance. This rakyat is slim, shorter. It's a woman.

The woman appears from behind the other warriors, walks slowly towards Alice. She walks like a predator. A panther. Her movements are slow, deliberate, sensual. Her bare feet make no sound on the stone ground, her whole body sways with each step. She walks into the firelight.

The woman has dark golden skin, she wears a short skirt opened at the sides, a short top revealing her firm stomach. She is about Alice's height, but the way she holds her head makes her appear the tallest in the temple. Her black hair is shaved at the sides, gathered into a long Mohawk in the centre. The hair falls to her hips, in dreadlocks. There's a dagger in her hand, the blade reflecting light with each slow, catlike step. She walks closer still.

When she is almost in front of Alice, the woman stops, holds her gaze. 

She has the most beautiful face Alice has ever laid eyes on. Sharp, symmetrical, with full, soft pliable lips and the most insanely green eyes in the world. They're green, but a light, blue shade of it, shining bright in the dark. The woman must know her eyes are her best asset, because they are circled with dark, emphasising their other worldliness. She smiles, showing no teeth. A hand perches itself on her hip, a look of contempt twisting her lovely features.

Alice is transfixed.

Where Alice is all round curves and soft edges, this woman is hard, athletic, oozing danger and leadership. Alice likes to think herself fairly fit, especially since she has started diving, but this woman looks utterly limitless.

The translucent eyes roam her sorry little self, the woman's head tilted to the side in quiet study of her prey.

"I am Citra." Starts the woman. She gestured around her. "And these are the Rakyat. My people."

Damn. Even her voice is magnetic. Everything from the gentle tone to the seductive roll of her tongue. She infuses meaning and layers to her words. 'My people', on her lips, sounds like the sexiest, most heartfelt endearment in the world.

"This is our temple."

Alice nods awkwardly.

"Alice. Hello." She wiggles her body. "This is my temple." She laughs.

"You like jokes?" Smiles Citra.

"Speaking of, I feel funny."

Citra circles her, and the dagger blade reflects the light again.

"We know who you are, traitor." She whispers. "We know what you did."

"I didn't kill-"

"And we know where you came from. The sea." Her white teeth finally show as she chuckles. "Vaas calls you a mermaid."

There is a quiet rumble through the crowd as the Rakyat laugh.

"Why am I here?"

The blade flashes bright as it cuts the air and presses, cold, unforgiving, against Alice's throat.

"Do not speak without permission!" Commands Citra. The blade retracts. "You are here because you are a traitor."

Citra takes a few steps away, seemingly lost in thoughts, and when she speaks again she is addressing the crowd rather than Alice.

"Accross this island, Vaas and his pirates kill and enslave our people. Vaas, my own brother, betrayed our people for drugs, whores and money!"

Citra is irresistible. High pitched, shivering with outrage, her voice as it picks up emotion and momentum makes her sound like she's having sex. She is clenching at her heart, her back bent with the pain the memories bring to her.

"He turned away from our people, spat on his birthright and refused my -our- help. He killed our brothers, he chose Hoyt over his own people." She turns to Alice, points at something on an autel nearby. It is Tim's hat. "And now, little mermaid, you have done the same. You have betrayed your people's trust, you have killed our people, for Vaas."

Her eyes widen, full of disbelief, and their opalescent light burns into Alice's skull.

"Vaas was strong. Powerful." She's purring the words. "He could have become the ultimate warrior, worn the tatau. But he turned against us. He enslaves and murders us. But we will claim our island back! I will lead you to victory! Vaas will be killed and our enslaved brothers and sisters, returned to us. I will cut out his heart, just like he did to us!" She is pointing her blade at Alice.

"But we will not kill you. Not yet," she smiles, plays with the dagger in her hands, sways her way back to Alice.

"Vaas has taken many warriors from us. Dear warriors. And we want them back," she is calm, content. "We will swap you, traitor, for them."

Citra has a devious smile on her beautiful lips. Alice is still struggling to find the will to care.

"We needed to send Vaas a message. We needed him to know. But what could we cut off a mermaid? Her legs?" The blade drags along Alice's thighs. "Her tongue?" The tip inches into Alice's throat, not quite breaking the skin. "Her hair." Finishes Citra. 

"Hair grows back," says Alice casually, but she is ignored.

"Vaas will bring six warriors back to us, in exchange for his mermaid."

"I'm sorry but I don't think it's going to work... There's no way Vaas is going to sacrifice six hostages for one person. Have you got anything else you can offer? Maybe a gift basket of drugs and weapons or something?"

Citra does not even smile.

"One more word from you, outsider, and I will cut out your tongue." She turns, walks away. Gets something from one of her warriors' pockets, then walks back to Alice.  
Whatever she's got in her hand, it is precious, and likely to slip away, as Citra holds it carefully like it was some new born little bird fallen out of the nest. When she reaches Alice, Citra lifts and open her hand, pursues her gorgeous lips together and blows, like she's blowing a kiss. A sparkling powder flies to Alice's nose and mouth, and she coughs it out. "We like you quiet," whispers Citra, and she could not have sounded sexier.

If this is who Tim was helping, thinks Alice, no wonder he thought he was invicible.

"Take her to the meeting point, wait there." Citra calls out, waving a dismissing hand up. It detaches from her body and returns to slap Alice in the face. The girl wants to let out a startled gasp, but her voice isn't working. The warriors open their arms and fly off, high in the night sky, and when she looks ahead Alice sees Vaas, her Vaas, pole dancing in the centre of the temple. He's really good. When was there ever a temple in an ancient pole?

What?

She's at the back of a van now. It's daylight already. The two guys are there, and there's a driver, behind a grid.

"Why do Vaas and Citra not have the same voice? I mean, accent?" She asks.

Silence.

"They're siblings, no?" She's sounding like Vaas. The thought makes her smile. She's probably still high as a kite. It's good, it helps her deal.

"Oy?" Presses Alice, but she gets a slap accross the face.

"That's not an answer. You know, it's ok just to say 'I don't know'."

The van drives on.

"I reeeeeaally need a wee. Seriously. Or a number two, I'm not sure."

Silence.

"Número dos."

Still nothing.

"Poooooooo...."

"Shut up!"

Another slap.

"Oh let's stop here!" She shouts, looking out the back window. There are rice fields everywhere and it looks like the postcards.

"Where are my hands?" Alice looks around, panicked. "You cut off my hands?" She bursts out laughing. "Oh no I found them, they're here! You hid them behind my back you twats!!"

She cannot stop laughing. She's got to be mad, so, so mad. Is this what it feels like to be Vaas? It's kind of nice, she feels nothing, everything is funny. She cannot see any limits. Still chuckling, Alice starts wiggling in her seat, stretching her arms painfully until she manages to get her tied hands under her bum, then she folds her legs and gets her arms to be in front of her, as opposed to behind her back. A sway in the road and she loses her balance, collapses onto a guy's knees and he shoves her roughly against the back door.

"Silly sausage," mumbles Alice, pulling herself up. She freezes.

The door handle is right there.

Another curve in the road and the van slows down. Alice presses both hands on the handle, hard, and it opens! She flies out!

She doesn't feel the fall, she's probably looking like she's been rubbed against a massive cheese grater but it doesn't feel too bad. She gets to her knees, the trousers are torn. Now she's standing. A warrior is lying face down on the dust road, he isn't moving. She looks back and sees the van breaking hard, the other warrior jumping out. Alice sets off running in the opposite direction, laughing her head off. This is the best day of my life. I can't wait to tell Vaas!

She runs into the jungle, tries stifling her laughter so as not to betray her position. She runs and runs, falls, gets back up and runs again. 

Suddenly she's out in the open, and it's a rice field, and she jumps in, water to her knees. She makes to cross it but her arm is yanked back before she has time to get very far. It's ok though, it's not like she has any idea where she was going anyways. It's the warrior that fell with her. He's all bloody and he looks angry. His hand slams accross her face twice and he pulls out his gun and presses it into her temple. Shouts at her.

Alice is being dragged along, her face is burning but the water feels good around her legs. There's a beeping in her ears, it's coming from the ground around them.

Click.

The warrior freezes.

"Who...?" He says, looking at Alice.

Alice jumps, nothing happens.

"It's you!" She tells him.

The warrior looks down to his feet, but it's impossible to see the land mine while standing on it. Neither of them can tell which foot it is that stepped onto the bomb. It's a miracle they even heard it at all. A miracle Alice has run so far into the field without stepping on one bomb.

"You're so fucked, hermano!" 

It's Vaas, it's got to be, who else would say that? He's nowhere to be seen though, and the warrior is throwing her an angry look. Did she say that??  
Oh god, what if Vaas never existed and I have been Vaas all along??

Alice is sobering up.

Wait a minute, take it easy. Your face is hurting, and your arms and knees, but we'll deal with that later. Firstly, let's deal with this bomb situation. The warrior is on it, he cannot move. Maybe someone can come and help? But how will they find them? They could be both falling asleep and exploding before they even get found.

"Untie me!!"

"No way."

"Look, if you untie me I can go and get the driver and someone will come and help. If we stay here we have no garantee that we will be found."

"Just shut up, let me think."

"Well it's simple mate, can you disarm a land mine? I can't. Do you have a phone? I don't. Are willing to rely on your mates finding you here of all places? I'm not."

She reaches to him, his hand on her arm like an iron claw.

"Look me in the eyes. Let me go, I will get them, they will come and help. It's our only chance. I won't leave you here to die, I promise! I don't know what Vaas and Citra told you but I'm not a murderer, I didn't kill Tim."

"You killed our warriors when we came to get you." He is spiteful, but hesitating.

"I had no idea who you were. Imagine yourself in my place, no one told me anything, no one introduced themselves, I just got jumped by ten guys!" She pleads, softens her voice, unleashes her full pitiful-civilised-quiet-compassionate English girl gear on him. "Please, please let me go and get them. I wouldn't have anywhere to run to, I would be found. I'll just go back to the van, tell them where you are. If I do that, will you give me some water to drink? I'm thirsty."

This is better, she realises, let him think she wants something in exchange. He doesn't believe in nobleness of the soul, he doesn't trust her.

"You want water?"

"Please. Water, and no one slaps me again. And you answer my questions. I'll go and get help, ok?"

He's thinking about it. Or maybe he's thinking of his family, his girlfriend. Boyfriend?

"Ok. You get help, I give you water, no one hits you again and I answer your questions."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

He lets go of her arm, and Alice steps back, away, leaves the field. She sets off running towards the jungle again, leaving the warrior there. Her smile is mad, like the Cheshire cat's.

Vaas would be proud.

She's free.


	19. Battered and Bruised

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A necessary, plot move along chapter. Not too pleased with it, but excited about the next one. Hehehehehehehe.  
> Thank you for your amazing support :)

Mani is from Italy, sort of.

His dad was Colombian, but his mum took him to Italy when he was little and left him there, so he lived in various foster homes. He hated it, and moved to the north of England (no one told him it was jobless). He became a sailor, used to work on those massive container ships. Once, they came near the Rook Islands in South East Asia and Mani had never seen a place which looked any more like his idea of paradise. He'd just spent years around Newcastle in grey, rainy England, and the islands were just a thing of wonder.  
There, the women were gorgeous, the food was better and time seemed to just stop. He met a guy in some bar, a local man, and, after a few glasses of rice wine, he explained to that random man how empty his life felt and how, no matter how hard he prayed, God never sent him a sign.

And the guy showed him sympathy. He didn't pity him. He told him of his own struggles, how pirates were tearing his culture and people apart. He told him of the Rakyat. He told him of Citra.

When Mani first led eyes on Citra Talugmai, the girl couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. She had a brother, although they only shared a mother. There was something about the girl, something which drew every man in, including her own brother. It wasn't just her beauty, although the girl was stunning, it was the sheer, pure, undiluted charisma, it drove men of all ages wild. Mani had always been a nobody, but Citra had heart, passion, and she saw something in him. The Rakyat decided to give him another chance at life. He who had been wandering for years, trying to find something worth living for, now pined for their cause and their extraordinary leader.

He quickly climbed up the ranks, became one of Citra's most trusted men.

That morning when they lost the girl, Mani had been the driver.

He didn't really see what was happening at the back, but suddenly there were shouts and when he stopped the van the girl was running away followed by one of those big muscly warriors. Good for show, but otherwise useless guys. Mani waited with the van, but only one warrior returned, empty handed.

They argued for about thirty minutes. The other guy, Eloy, wanted to forget about the girl. She was probably far by now, and it wasn't like she'd be able to reach the pirates any time soon. The meeting with Vaas was only another thirty minutes away, they didn't have time to waste.

Mani, on the other hand, knew better than to deceive Citra. Disappointing her was no better option, however.

Eventually, Eloy came up with a plan which Mani had to agree to: go ahead with the exchange, ask for four warriors to be sent over first. They would have four extra pairs of hands. Then, kill all pirates present. The last two rakyat warriors would hopefully be smart enough to hide, and if not, then they would have to be sacrificed.

Citra would understand they had done the right thing. There was no time to get back to the temple, and she did not keep a phone. There was a chance to kill some pirates and possibly Vaas, whilst getting at least four men back. They could track the girl down later, with a bit of luck she might have been killed by the jungle itself.

So the two of them drove on.

The meeting point was at a crossroad, on the seaside, and there was a shack on the side of the dust road. Several Rakyat warriors were already there. Mani and Eloy exited the van, told nobody that the girl was no longer actually in the back. Everyone took position, wait. One look at their watches told them that the pirates would be there soon.

Mani was confident. This was going to work.

______________________

 

Vaas drives a bit too fast along the road.

The bag containing his mermaid' hair is on his lap, the weight soft and warm against his legs. He keeps his eyes on the road, tries to stay collected. Carlos is watching him carefully out of the corner of his eye. Back at the camp, Vaas smashed a boy's face in, because the kid had asked aloud if it was really worth giving up six hostages for one little piece of pussy. Vaas stomped on his face until it was all a mushy mess. Then he beat up all six hostages. They weren't talking anyway, brainwashed pieces of fuck.

All six of them are in the van behind them now, and he's not even certain they are all conscious.

Truth is, Vaas knows that concretely, Alice isn't worth the hostages.

But that's not the point. Vaas doesn't give a shit about the point.

He needs his mermaid back. He needs Citra's head on the antenna of his car. He needs to chop off all rakyats' balls and make them eat them.

He wants his mermaid. She chose to stay! That simple fact is shaking Vaas' entire being. He gave the girl a chance to leave and she did not take it. It's the second time now, and still she chooses to stay, she chooses him. Even if she doesn't realise it yet, Vaas knows what it means, it means redemption, it means she does love him, he is worthy of her love. He's got to be patient. He's got to get her back.

Finally, after another sway in the road, a white van appears, surrounded by at least a dozen warriors, all inked up. No Brody, though.  
The pirates stop their cars.

Vaas knocks on the back of the van, gestures to the pirates inside. Slowly, all six hostages are walked out. It's a miracle they are still standing.

A rakyat walks to the front.

"Vaas." He calls.

"Hermano." Replies Vaas.

"One funny move from you and our guy in there shoots the girl, understood?"

"You shoot my girl and I will rip your throat out with my fucking teeth, amigo."

Silence.

"Send our warriors over."

Vaas chuckles, rolls his eyes.

"It don't work like that, hermano. You show me the girl first."

"Send us four warriors first, then we'll show her."

"It don't fucking work like that hermano," repeats Vaas, but all humour has left his face. "Now show me the girl, let's go."

"Four of our guys first."

"Four, huh?" Vaas smiles, starts getting agitated. He paces along the line of hostages. "Which fucking four, hermano? You want this one?" Without further warning, Vaas shoots one of the hostages right between the eyes. "This one?" Another hits the floor. "You show me the girl right fucking now, hermano, or there is no fucking deal."

"Shit" whispers Mani. "I fucking told you!"

"Shut up" angrily replies Eloy. "Let me think!"

"Oy! YOU FUCK!!" Vaas is truly mad, now. "YOU-!"

He stops suddenly, reaches into the vibrating phone in his pocket. He looks at the screen, freezes. Shows it to a pirate to his right, who scowls in confusion.

"Sorry, I've got to take this, one minute hermano, ok?" Vaas walks away, leaving everyone looking puzzled.

 

________________

 

Vaas looks at his phone. The screen IDs the caller as Buck, which isn't possible. Buck is dead. Have I lost my fucking mind?

"Hello?"

"Oh! Um, hello, um, Vaas?"

No. No. Impossible.

"Vaas? Is that you?"

What is even...? Vaas turns to the scene behind him. Nothing's moved. He slaps his own head.

"Vaas? Can you hear me, hello?"

"Yeah."

"Hi!" Breathes his nena, relieved. It's the first time he hears her voice over the phone, and she sounds so, so sweet, speaking directly into his ear like that. But what the fuck is going on? Vaas is so stunned he cannot even say a word. That's a first, snickers his mind. Wouldn't be the first time he hears voice, though.

"Listen, Vaas, I'm not at the meeting point, ok? I'm not in the van!" She sounds ok. Tired, but ok. "I jumped out of the van, I don't know where you are or where the rakyats are, but there won't be an exchange ok? I escaped and ran to Badtown, I found Buck's place and I got his phone. Your number was saved in the contacts. Did you know that they haven't even moved his body?? He's still here! He's right here, at my feet! In his.. Shorts! This is insane! Vaas? Vaas?"

"Yeah."

"Did you... Did you hear me?"

"Yes. Yes, mi amor, I heard you."

"Listen, don't go to the meeting point, ok? Keep your hostages. I mean, I know you probably weren't going to go there anyway, but I just wanted to double check, and to let you know that I haven't run away, ok? I'm at Buck's place. Should I wait here, or do you want me to make my way back to the camp?"

"Wait there. Fuck, nena, you're... You're a fucking treasure, you know that? You're my fucking treasure. I'm coming to get you, nena, you're so fucking... So fucking... I'm going to get you and then we're gonna do whatever the fuck you want, ok nena? I'm gonna take real good care of you. You stay there."

"O-ok. Cool. Um... Thank you."

"Thank you, baby."

"S-see you." 

She hangs up. 

Back at the exchange point, everyone is having a hard time pretending to be staying focused on the enemy while Vaas is away.

Eloy and Mani are whispering feverishly to each other, trying to find a way to fix their massive f-up. Their best option is to shoot and run.

"Change of plan, motherfucker!" Shouts Vaas as he strolls back to them. He's carrying a machine gun, and he looks way too pleased with himself.

"Change of fucking plan, hermano."

With a wide sweep of his gun, Vaas kills all four remaining hostages, and opens fire onto the Rakyats. He's laughing like a mad man. All pirates start shooting at them, and the last thing Mani sees in his life is Vaas Montenegro throwing a grenade at him, his smile devilish, his laughter insane, as his pirates are murdering his friends in a deadly rain of bullets.

 

___________________________

 

At first, Alice hides in the basement, but soon the stench emanating from Buck's body becomes simply unbearable and she almost runs back upstairs.

Her mouth is feeling dry, and her head is pounding. The effects of whatever drug Citra has given her are wearing off, and Alice feels more pain than she has ever felt before. Her face and arms must be badly scratched from the fall out of the van, her whole body is sore, but it is the headache that is the most unforgiving. 

She's glad Vaas knows she hasn't tried deserting him again, because she has no doubt that he would have killed her for that. The money had been an obvious test, one she could not afford to fail. The warriors would quickly have realised that there was no way the exchange would go ahead, and she would have been killed.

After her escape, sooner or later Alice would have been caught by either camp, and killed. That was, assuming she survived long enough for that. Her best option was to go back to Vaas, and she'd found Badtown by pure chance. Buck's place she found by asking a prostitute, and, by another amazing strike of luck, the hitman's body, and phone, were still where he'd been killed a couple of days before. She'd had to charge the phone for ten minutes before she could ring Vaas.

She feels so, so relieved.

He did not sound angry on the phone. Maybe she should initiate another kiss to get him to forgive her for being so flipping easy to catch. Surely he'll be impressed with her escape, though. And she's passed his test.

You left that guy to die.

I wasn't myself.

Gosh, there's a few unwashed dishes in the sink. Maybe she'll just wash those as she waits.

I promise, I will come back, I'm not a murderer.

She's scrubbing as hard as she can, these have been left a while,they smell. This place feels awful. The bed downstairs has bloodstains on it, and chains. It smells of piss and death.

I won't leave you here to die.

Has it been about twenty minutes already? She's cleaned everything. Is that a car she hears pulling at the front?

I didn't kill Tim.

Alice dries her hands, runs out. It is them.

I'm not a murderer.

Vaas jumps out, runs to her. He's covered in blood and sweat, he looks so incredibly crazy right this moment.

I promise.

Alice is so happy to see him. She passed!

He looks angry, he's shouting, she cannot hear him properly. He's pointing at her face, her hair. He stops just in front of her, like he's afraid to touch her. There's no time for that. Alice crashes into him, buries her sore face into his chest, wraps her arms around him as hard as she can.

I'm not a murderer, I promise.

She starts crying.

I promise. I won't leave you here to die, her words exactly. How could she say that? Was it justified?

At first, Vaas is stiff and silent against her, then he slowly raises his arms and holds her back, very gently, careful not to hurt her.

He's so kind.

Alice cries even more, because he's kind, he's loving, he's her only hope. He's so gentle. Maybe he does love her. She hurt him so much when she tried to leave! He loves her.

And that's good, she likes that idea.

Maybe he does love her. 

That's good, it's good, it's good because the truth is...Alice isn't entirely sure she can really love herself anymore.

Eventually, Vaas manages to pry her arms open, releasing himself from her python-like hold.

He keeps an arm around her shoulder, leads her to the car. Her tears feel like acid on the cuts on her face. His package is in the back seat, and Alice is glad to see that it did get to him in the end.

They go back to the camp and Vaas retrieves new clothes for her, gives out a few orders, generously distributes the contents of his package, then takes her to the doctor's house. Alice hopes that whatever they find the doctor doing, it's got nothing to do with whatever he is hiding under he cliff.

When they get there, Alec is in his greenhouse, and his eyes widen comically when he takes a look at Alice' state. Soon, she is sitting on the bed upstairs, the fan is on and feels lovely on her burning face, and the doctor is tending to her wounds while Vaas watches from behind him.

"Looks like there's an English girl under all this dirt!" Says the doctor, very gently. "Your arms took most of the damage I think, and your knees."

Alice is in her underwear, and it isn't a bikini, which is embarrassing because even though Alec is a doctor, Vaas certainly isn't, and he keeps staring at them. She comforts herself with the thought that it is like being in a bikini. Also, it's all black. So it's practically a bikini, isn't it? Is she fat? She hasn't shaved her legs in what... Three years ??

"That's a nasty bruise there, though," continues Alec, oblivious to Alice's torment. "Is that from the fall?"

"Perhaps. I'm not sure."

"It looks more like a punch, dear."

Vaas straightens, leans forward, scowling at the purplish bruise on Alice's temple. Murmurs profanities.

"I'm going to put some of this ointment on your cuts and bruises, and I'll give you something for the pain. But first, I'm afraid we're going to have to put some disinfectant on all of this. How's your head?"

"Pounding." Scoffs Alice.

"That'll be the drugs wearing out. I've got nothing to prescribe to you, apart from some sleep." He sighs, turns to Vaas. "She wasn't mistreated. She is thirsty, though. Most of her injuries are minor and come from that little stunt she pulled. It's a miracle she hasn't broken a single bone. It looks like there's been a couple of punches or slaps, but nothing too serious. It shouldn't scar." He tells Alice, reassuring. "Not if you be a good girl and use your ointment four to six times a day. Well, you may get some scars on your arms and knees, but that will make you look cool, won't it?" He smiles again, and she can see the doctor in him.

She smiles back, risks a look at Vaas. He's still scowling, but his eyes soften when he sees her looking at him.   
The examination finished, Alice is getting more and more aware of how nude she is, on a bed, with Vaas a bit too near for comfort. Alec must have caught the look on her face, because he addresses the pirate:

"Did you say you had brought some clothes for the girl?"

"In the car, yeah."

"Would you mind...?"

"What?"

"Would you mind getting them?"

Vaas throws the doctor a suspicious look, but complies, albeit reluctantly. When they hear his footsteps crossing the living room downstairs, Alec suddenly turns to Alice and starts whispering hurriedly:

"Why did you give it to me? I cannot keep it! What were you thinking?"

"What?"

"I cannot keep it for you," repeats the doctor, panicked. "If they find it here they will kill me! I don't know how you got it and what you intend to do with it, and I don't want to know! Take it back, put it back wherever your found it, I won't tell him about this." He's reaching into his shirt pocket, stops to listen for any footsteps. "I cannot keep it, I'm sorry."

He's shoving something into her hands. A passport.

Her passport.


	20. Curiosity killed the Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow, we're nearing 30 reviews! And they're not even all from me! Thank you so, so much for your amazing support, and to you too who reads in silence, thank you for sticking with us :)
> 
> Due to traveling and meeting family again, then starting work again, I may be publishing a lot less often from now on. My aim once normal life starts again is to publish one chapter a week, and I am estimating this story to be about 5 or 6 chapters away from its planned end. I hope I have been doing this story justice so far, you certainly have with your support and kind words. This chapter here marks another milestone in Alice's development, and, my development as a writer lol because it's my first time (be gentle with me). I hope it isn't butchered.
> 
> Wishing you all a happy new year and plenty of happiness for the new year, and I will return hopefully in a week with more. Thank you, and hope you enjoy :)

Before Vaas returns, Alice manages to push Alec into explaining that he's found the passport in the envelope of money she's given him to pay for Vaas' order, but she seriously has no idea how it got there, and isn't sure the doctor believes her when she tells him that.

She hides the passport under the pillow as the pirate returns with some clothes. He's chosen a wide, comfortable t-shirt and some shorts, which look more like men's underpants, which they probably are. 

The doctor acts like nothing happened, gives her the ointment and asks Vaas to hold her hand as he disinfects her wounds. He's right, it is painful. It feels good to hold Vaas' hand, although she cannot stop blushing. He's whispering soothing things in Spanish.

'Mi amor' he called her on the phone, and 'baby'. Alice doesn't know how this makes her feel.

Well, she does, but she doesn't really want to fully acknowledge it. What was the plan again? Earn his trust, try leaving again? Seems a really abstract concept now. She rests her cheek against the hand holding hers,closes her eyes as the doctor starts working on her legs. After a few seconds, Vaas' other hand comes up and starts stroking her hair,comforting. She had no idea he could be this gentle. Sometimes he makes it really easy to forget what a ruthless murderer he is.

The hand on her hair feels so good, stroking innocently. Then his fingers entangle into her now shortish hair, holding but not pulling, almost massaging her scalp, and it feels amazing. Alice becomes abruptly aware that this is probably how his hand would feel on her head if she ever were to... She blushes furiously, opens her eyes.

"So you said four to six times a day, right?"

"Yes. More, if you feel like you need it. I would advise to keep using this for a few weeks, and to keep applying the ointment even when it looks like you are fully healed. Unless of course you do want some scars!" He chuckles, stands up. "We're all done, my dear. Put your clothes on. I'm going to give you five bottles of the stuff, and some of these for the pain. Now, I advise you to take it easy, sleep, eat well, and drink plenty of water."

"Thank you doctor." Smiles Alice. Vaas lets go of her head, takes a step back. 

He turns to speak to the doctor and Alice retrieves her passport, stuffs it into her knickers, under the shorts. She stands as the doctor leaves to wash his hands, and Vaas and her are left alone in the bedroom.

"What do you wanna do, nena?" Asks the pirate.

"Go home? Maybe get some sleep?"

He smiles, nods. He makes to walk to the stairs but Alice catches his hand.

"Listen, Vaas... I just wanted to apologise for having got caught so easily, and for, you know, all the trouble it caused."

He frowns, walks over to her,his hands cupping her face. 

"You're a fucking badass, you know that? You took out loads of their men, you jumped out of a moving van like you were in an action film or some shit, it's fucking amazing. Like James fucking Bond."

His fingers are feeling the shorter locks of hair. He lets go suddenly, turns away from her like he's annoyed with himself.

"And you sure as fuck aren't easy to catch," he mumbles. "Come on let's go."

When they get back to camp, Alice notices for the first time that there really are less and less pirates around. Is this all Brody's doing? Hasn't he died in the helicopter crash?

Vaas is showing her off, telling everyone how she escaped, jumping out of the van and getting rid of her captors before walking all the way to Badtown to give him a ring. The pirates smile at her, some wink, she even gets a pat on the shoulder from Carlos. Her dog shows up and Alice drops to the ground to cuddle him. He's overjoyed, unable to decide whether he wants to climb onto her lap or jump up to lick her face. Alice hugs him, rubs his belly, pushes him playfully, avoids his invading tongue whilst Vaas watches from a distance. As the pirates get lost in their celebration - they killed a big number of Rakyats that day - Alice inches her way towards the shack, and collapses onto the settee. She falls asleep immediately, and when she wakes she has been set onto the bed, and is once again reluctantly moved by Vaas' gentleness.

She needs to remember the facts. The hard ones. Like how he's keeping her here against her will. How he's murdered Brad. That boy he sliced open while forcing her to watch, the boy's guts dropping to the floor in one gross, steaming, wet pile. How is she supposed to hold on to all of this when he is being nothing like himself? He's not a gentle man, what is he playing at?

Later, a look in the mirror shows her the extent of the damage.

Her hair looks a mess, it's been unevenly cut around her face and the shorter locks reach her chin while the longest ones graze her shoulder. How is it possible to mess up a haircut that badly?? Her face doesn't look too bad, it's cut on the lip and forehead, but it is her arms that caught most of the damage from the fall. They look like they've been grated. Her knees look awful too, and Alice is glad she hasn't broken anything, apart from her opinion of herself.

How could she lie to that man like that? It had felt so easy, as well! Is he still there?

But the main issue which really occupies Alice's thoughts at present, is the passport. Her passport. It's clearly Vaas who left it in the envelope, for her to find, not for the doctor. Who else's le have out it there? Carlos ? Impossible. Or was she being framed? Or not? Somehow Alice is convinced it was in fact Vaas who left the passport in there, but the question is why? Was it part of the test? Alice would believe so, if it wasn't for the memory of what happened in the clearing, right after Tim's death.

'Do it.' Vaas, holding her gun to his heart. 'You want your freedom? Do it. I'll never let you go.'

It's twice now that he gives her a chance to leave. The passport in the envelope full of money wasn't a test of her loyalty, it was a chance to go, and if anyone was being tested it was him. Is this about what happened the other night, when he got a bit rough with her? Alice is desperate to believe so. Desperate to hold on to any shred of humanity Vaas shows her.

What does it mean,that Alice never even looked inside the envelope? What does that say about her?

What should she do with the passport? Keep it? He'll never trust her if she does... Return it? She'll never get it back.

Over the next few days Vaas is being incredibly kind to her, helping her apply her ointment, helping her brush and even out her hair, making her food and bringing her fresh water. She overhears conversations which suggest that things aren't going great though, as Vaas confides in Carlos that he doesn't believe Jason Brody is dead. He never once takes out his anger on Alice again though, and the young woman slowly comes to the realisation that she is craving his touch.

It's not a comfortable state of mind.

Vaas has stopped being too intimate with her, never initiating a kiss, and she knows it has to do with his behaviour from the other night. He probably thinks she is afraid of him, which she is, but not in the way he thinks. She is scared of how he is making her feel, how he is growing into her, how just plain happy she is to be back in prison. The lack of physical proximity, something which she would have been so grateful for just a few days before, now weights on her and drives her insane, especially at night. He touches her, yes, but innocently, without a hint of sexual desire. One afternoon she cannot take the distance anymore, and Alice pulls him down and kisses him, proactively, nipping his lips and teasing his tongue, her arms around his neck, her hands feeling his Mohawk, and she moans appreciatively as he finally returns her eagerness. He doesn't try to take things further though, and eventually she is kissing a shaking mess, so she stops. His eyes are dark, his breathing ragged, his hands grip the table against which she's cornered him. She understands that this must be the first time he has to hold back, and Vaas is not, by nature, one to hold his impulses back. He's holding back for her, and how is she supposed to remember the evil side of him?

She doesn't want him to hold back.

The realisation that she wants to have sex with Vaas dawns on Alice little by little over the next few days, destroying every last piece of self esteem that she's been carefully safeguarding. Perhaps it is precisely the fact that she does not have much love for herself anymore, while his love for her seems to grow, that is pushing her towards these deep dark waters. She wants him. It is an almost primal, animalistic need, one she can hardly put words on. She wants him. Perhaps it is also the fact that he has given her a chance to escape which has somehow resulted in her wanting to stay, but nevertheless the results are the same. Alice wants him. And she wants him to want her. It's so incredibly twisted.

She makes her decision.

She is drowning in confusion, she cannot even start thinking of all the complexities around her situation at present. She'll have to deal with that later. She just needs some human contact. She wants to have sex with Vaas, he obviously has been wanting to 'fuck' her for months, so why not? Why not? It's just lust, nothing more. Once she gets this out of her mind, this morbid curiosity, she'll feel better, right? Right?

One night, Alice is giving herself this pep talk when she finally acts on her desires. She sits up in bed, her heart beating wildly. He's right there, in the next room. Probably naked. She stands, silently paces around, both excited and terrified. What if he rejects her? She passes her hand through her hair, smoothes out her t-shirt, hesitates as her fingers reach the elastic of her knickers. Should she take them off? Somehow, the idea of him taking them off for her is far more arousing, and Alice leaves them on. She snorts. She's already wet, and she's not even left the bedroom. Just how desperate do you get? 

And what if he rejects her? What if he's terrible in bed? What if he thinks she is terrible in bed?

Well, then you'll know. Maybe he'll let you go. Come on.

With one last rush of inspiration, Alice takes her passport. 

Alice walks into the main living area. Vaas is asleep on his couch, completely naked. He's handsome, for real. Muscly, dark, with hairs trailing accross his chest and down to his private bits. He really is attractive. He has nice green eyes, and when he smiles the lines at the corner of his eyes are charmingly rugged. Alice suddenly feels very self conscious. She's nothing special.

He wants you,remember? He's wanted you from the beginning. You're a mermaid, remember, nena?

"Vaas?" Alice calls out, gently. He stirs in his sleep. "Vaas?"

When he wakes, his eyes take a minute to get accostumed to the dark, and when he recognises her he sits up abruptly, blinks.

"Nena! What the fuck, are you ok? Something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong."

"Then why the fuck do you wake me up then?"

Oh god, he's angry. Not good. Retreat. Retreat.

"I just uh, I wanted to... It's ok, go back to sleep. I'm sorry for waking you up."

She's escaping, but he catches her wrist.

"Wait." He rubs his face, makes a very visible effort to keep his calm. "What do you want?"

Alice walks back to him. She's not even thought of how to put it. Is she supposed to say 'wanna fuck'?

"I uh... I don't know how to say it!" She laughs nervously. "Is 'I wanna have sex with you, if you're not too tired' a bit too abrupt?"

He freezes.

"What?"

Did she say that aloud?? Did she really say that aloud??

"You heard me." That's right Alice, play it cool.

"The fu-... What?"

Alice takes a deep breath. She takes a tentative step towards him, raises her knee and puts it down at his side, then does the same with her other knee, straddling him. She doesn't quite dare to fully sit on him. She's watching his reactions, careful, looking for any sign of anger.

Vaas looks like he's been turned into a statue. He's staring, in shock, silent for once, trying to comprehend what is happening. He's not pushing her away though, and Alice takes that as an invitation to keep going. She sits on him, carefully, her eyes never leaving his. Her hand reaches up, showing the passport. Without a word, Alice puts it next to him, on the settee. This is the right move, definitely. Keeping it would make him forever doubtful of her. Sleeping with him could potentially garantee his loyalty, especially if she gives him the passport. If she escapes she doesn't really need a passport anyways, just any embassy of any kind, they'd help her. Tourists get their passports stolen all the time.

Having sex with him once and for all will eliminate this insidious curiosity around the act, all the sick mystery, and is probably the best tactical move she can make at present.

'I mean it' she tries to say with her eyes. 'I want you'. She wraps her arms around his neck, trying not to be spooked by his lack of reaction, and leans in to kiss him.

When their lips finally connect, that's when Vaas breaks. His whole body seems to come to life, his arms snaking around her body and pulling her to him, hands roaming her back and her thighs, squeezing, as his hips push upwards, rubbing against her. He takes over control, leading the kiss, moaning deep in his throat. Then, his hand leaves her thigh and gives a gentle but firm smack on her bottom. Alice pulls back, startled, but Vaas keeps her in place as he chuckles:

"That's for saying sorry,nena"

Alice laughs, and their kisses grow more heated, as she presses against Vaas, trying to feel even closer to him. He stands, lifting her up, and takes her to the bedroom. Alice's heart has started beating wildly again, and once again she cannot tell if she is excited or terrified. It's probably a bit of both. He lets her onto the bed, kneels on it above her. He seems to hesitate, looks at her. Alice keeps her eyes on his face, tries not to look at his erection.

"You sure, nena?" He asks. "It'd be fucking rude of you to regret this tomorrow."

Without a word she reaches up and pulls him down on top of her, wrapping her legs around him.

It's amazing how she'd never realised until now how vividly she could feel lust. His hands touch her everywhere, and somehow it isn't quite enough. He rests on his side, kissing her, licking and nipping at her throat, then he pushes her shirt up and she helps him take it off. He's licking and kissing her chest now, almost biting her nipples, except the only pain she feels is the one between her legs. A delicious kind of pain. It's just curiosity. It's lust, it's biology. 

She touches him too, loving the feel of his chest hair and hard muscles, amazed at how soft the skin of his sex is, but it is hard to stay focused, especially when his hand trails down to her centre and she is reduced to a whimpering mess as he strokes and teases her in the most intimate way. She was supposed to be the one driving him wild, not the other way around. He's feeling really warm, his breath short against her skin, his erection hard against her hip, and he's whispering hot, loving words in Spanish. How he's even forming coherent words Alice doesn't know, because she certainly is unable to. Her hand reaches down and squeezes his as he slips a finger inside her and she archs her back, a cry of both surprise and pleasure on her lips.

"You're so fucking hot, you know that? So fucking hot. So fucking wet." He whispers the dirty words lovingly, as he kisses her temples, her eyes, her cheek. She can only gasp in response. She's never been this turned on in her life. Guilt mixes with intense pleasure as she rubs against his hand, her arm holding at his neck. This is a tactical move. His mouth nipping at her ear, his fingers inside of her, his sex rubbing against her, her need to feel him even closer, it's all tactical, it's all curiosity, it's part of the plan.

Vaas' hand eventually leaves her, pulling gently at her underwear. It slides easily along her legs, and she is fully naked under him. He rolls on top of her, places himself between her legs. His hands on either side of her face. The tip of his erection presses at her entrance and he pauses. He seems so in control of himself, only the slight shaking of his arms betrays him.

"Look at me." He commands. "You know what this means, no? You really want this?"

He's sounding a bit defensive, but Alice knows he is unsure of himself. He's giving her one last chance to pull away, and this is precisely why she presses forward.

"I really want this, Vaas. I really want you." It's not even a lie.

His sigh of relief breaks into a throaty moan as he inches into her. She holds him close, clinging on to his back and shoulders, as he rests his forehead against hers and catches his breath.

"You chose me." He says, then starts moving. Pulls out, pushes back in. Loses control. "You chose. You're mine, Alice, you're fucking mine!" his movements grow steady and assured, possessive. His chest is against hers, he presses open mouthed kisses to her lips as he grunts without restraint, and Alice's hands travel down his strong back to feel the powerful thrusts of his hips. He bites her lip when she digs her nails into his backside, then he kisses her softly to apologise. How is she supposed to pretend to be somebody else when he calls her by her name?

Beforehand, Alice had expected Vaas to be rather rough in bed, and a bit selfish. She couldn't have been any further from the truth. He is gentle, surprisingly so, yet undeniably passionate, and seeks her pleasure as much as his own, if not more. He angles his thrusts, listens carefully for any change in her breathing, repeats whatever makes her moan the loudest. Alice is probably being a disappointment, her own pleasure blinding her so much that all she seems to be able to do is hold him close, wrap her legs tight around him and whimper breathlessly. He speaks, occasionally, whispers words of appreciation and encouragement, both in Spanish and English. At one point he lifts himself onto his forearms and angles his hips slightly differently, his pelvis rubbing against her cliroris in time with his thrusts, causing Alice to cry out. She's very ashamed to admit to herself that she's never enjoyed sex this much. 

"You like that?" He asks, and Alice, who had always thought sex talk to be a massive turn off and a borderline ridiculous practice, finds herself almost purring in response. "You like it when I fuck you like that? You want more like that?" He speeds up, and the electricity in her centre starts spreading to the rest of her overly sensitive body.

"Yes, YES!" She cries, forgetting herself, toes curling, legs shaking, and Vaas starts swearing in Spanish as his thrusts grow more desperate, more brutal. Alice is almost afraid to let herself dip into this void she is nearing, but Vaas doesn't give her a chance to hesitate, as he pushes her over the edge with each slam of his hips and her orgasm takes over her consciousness. He follows soon after,loudly, and collapses on top of her.

They remain motionless, the only sound around being that of their breathing. Have they been heard? Her whole body is tingling. She feels light headed, both guilty and satisfied. He's humming against her breasts, content.

It wasn't that big a deal, she thinks. And it wasn't half bad. She could do this again. The fan is spinning above them, its breeze feels chilly on her hot skin. He pulls out, kisses her, and she feels his hot, liquid sperm running down her inner thighs. They've just had unprotected sex. Shit, she never even thought of that. What the hell is wrong with her?

"¿Qué te pasa, nena?" Vaas is sudenly above her, concerned. Alice realises she is crying.

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

She's choking now, sobbing uncontrollably, laughing because it doesn't make sense, she's just had the most amazing orgasm of her life, so why is she crying?? Vaas is clearly alarmed, he's stroking her forehead and kissing her cheeks, her tears. It's not his fault, that much is sure.

"I hurt you?"

"No, no, you didn't! You can hurt me like that any time you want." She tries to laugh but it turns into a choked up sob. "I'm crying because it was good. Great, even. It doesn't make sense." She wraps her arms around him. "Hold me." 

And he does, he holds her, cuddles her, gets her under the sheet and holds her close as she slowly comes to her senses again. She buries her face in his chest, hides from herself, breathes him in.

Oh god, she thinks, what's this? What's happening? It was great. He was great. She cannot leave him. She wants him, and it's so much more than that. What the fuck has she done? What's going on?

What the fuck am I going to do?


	21. Twisted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so so so much for the support!
> 
> Following the last chapter, a slightly *cough* darker one, so we don't forget who Vaas is. Again I cannot even express how happy I am to see that people actually read this, and that you even take the time to comment. Thank you, truly.
> 
> Next chapter may take a few days again, due to work starting again. Please stay tuned, though!

"Fuck off," mumbles Vaas as he pushes the ugly dog off the bed.

His mermaid stirs in her sleep, turns over, blinks her beautiful eyes open. 

"Morning,sirenita," he whispers lovingly.

"Morning" she replies, hiding her face behind her hand. He gently pushes the hand to the side, kisses her. Her lips are all swollen from the night before, and she looks so, so gorgeous. He inspects her face carefully for any sign of tears, but there is none. If anything, she looks a bit thoughtful, but contented.

"That was a real good fuck last night,no?" He asks, and she snorts, shaking her head at him.

"What?"

"You're so... Direct."

It's said without reproach, and she's right. Vaas isn't one to shy away from words.

"I love you."

She stares at him, in shock, and Vaas just chuckles.

"It's ok you don't need to say it back. You already said it last night."

Because that's what she said, she said she wanted to be in love when they fucked, and she was the one to come up to him last night. So she loves him, he knows it, nevermind the stunned look on her face.

It's a good day. Vaas is so wrapped up in the events of the night before that's it's easy to forget, for a few hours, how big of a fuck up the whole Jason Brody situation actually is. He goes to get some contraception shit from the doctor, really pleased to be able to show off that he's finally fucked his mermaid, and that he intends to do it again and again and again.

"Missionary style" he says, "in case you need to know for the meds. But we're gonna do it in loads of different positions so..."

"Yes, thank you for the details," chastises the doctor, but Vaas is in such a good mood that he lets it go.

He returns to camp, waving the medicine around like a trophy. A few pirates whistle.

Inside his shack, he finds his mermaid dressed, drying up her ugly dog.

"Got you these," he tells her. He goes to lean back against the table, looking at her bent form. She stands and walks to him, weirdly shy. Why is she being like that?  
It's cause she's a good girl, he reminds himself. She's not a fucking slut like Citra. She's not trying to manipulate him, that's why she's so shy.

"The doc said to take this one today, and one a day of those from now on. Until you want to have my babies."

She starts, thrown off. Maybe he's been a too direct there. She takes the bagful of medicines from him, looks at the pills, still quiet. Vaas just wants to pull her to him, wants to press her into talking to him, but he resists himself. The one thing he's finally learnt is that the best way to get her to want him back is to give her the option to leave him. It's risky, it's against his nature because he has to give over control to her, but it works. The first time he did it she kissed him, and the second time, she fucked him. It's worth fighting his nature a bit.

"Thank you. Did Alec mention any side effects?" She asks him. He tries not to scowl at her use of the doctor's first name.

"Yeah," he says, and reaches for her hips, gently pulling her to him. "He said they gonna make you horny, real fucking horny for Latino pirates."

She laughs, the sound lovely and hypnotising to Vaas' ears. When he makes her laugh, Vaas is happy with himself. Happy with himself as a person, that is. He's the guy that gets Alice Ridley to laugh. Then, her smile turns mischievous and she says:

"Well then, Carlos had better watch his back."

She's joking. He knows it. His hands grip her hips more tightly, fingers digging into the soft flesh. She's only joking. It was a good one. She notices the change, of course, throws him a worried look, squirms a bit in his hands.

"I'm joking," she says, hurriedly. "It was only a joke, a stupid one, really I just-"

"It's ok." He smiles, tightly. "I know. It was a good one."

He eases his hold on her hips, tries to shake the darkness out of his head, out of his perfect day. He's no longer holding her in place, and she isn't walking away. Vaas tries to kill the horrible images plaguing his brain. He's the one she fucks, no one else. It was just a joke.

"It wasn't funny. I'm sorry."

He looks up, and she's got a knowing smile on. An almost coy one, at that. Vaas' hand gives a decisive smack on her ass.

"How sorry are you?" He asks, and pulls her to him. She offers no resistance as he kisses her, and makes that cute little noise from the back of her throat, her arms going around his neck. Citra never used to do that. Citra never used to worry about touching him, pleasuring him. Everything with Citra was visual, as if looking at her was enough to get any guy off. It probably was. Alice showed him love, though. She lost herself in his touch, appreciated it, touched him back, sought him even after he came. And she came too, which was not what Citra did. Citra never lost control. Citra's love was twisted and self centred. Alice gave and received like they were equals, like they both wanted this. She lets him be on top, lets him lead, lets him speak, gives over control to him, loses herself willingly.

She kisses him back, gently, like an apology. She cares about his feelings, which makes it easier to remember to care about hers.

She's pressing against his knee, he sudenly realises. Her breath is becoming shorter,subtly so. She never imposes her desires on him, just offers them, and that drives him crazy. His hands cup her ass, kneading the soft flesh there. He pushes his knee between her legs, presses upwards, and she's rubbing against him, she's starting to lose herself again. He pulls back and watches her, amazed. He's the one who brings this look to her face. Just with his fucking knee. Imagine what he does to her with his dick? She shies away from him and he turns her face back to him, one of his hands keeping her in place above him, then he watches her eyes widen as he slips his hand down to her shorts, inside, and inside her bikini bottom. He's rubbing her, fingering her, feeling her soft, wet, hot cunt around him, listening to her whimpers and supporting her as she collapses against him. 

One of her hands reaches for his trousers, fumbles with his belt. She slips her little hand in there and wraps it around his hardening dick. There's pre-come at the top and she squeezes him, gently. He hisses against her.

"Can you show me?" She asks, timidly.

"Nena," he breathes out, so incredibly turned on by the simple request.

Citra never asked if you liked it. Whores were paid to ask. Alice genuinely wants to pleasure him back. It urges him to look after her, too.

With one hand still in and on her sex, Vaas uses his other hand to guide hers around his dick. He shows her how to make his cock slick, shows her what amount of speed and pressure he likes, and soon she is pumping him off and he's just as breathless as she is. Occasionally her touch falters because of what he is doing to her, but it's ok, it's all absolutely perfect.

This, he thinks, is love. They're both giving, both receiving. It's right.

Vaas leaves the passport in view, like a clear invitation, to show her she can leave. He's not a hundred per cent confident that she won't take it, but again, giving her the chance to leave seems to be what ultimately makes her stay. He watches her face as she rides out her orgasm, eyes shut tight, mouth open, and he helps her hand pump him off before coming onto her top. A little bit of sperm splashes up to her face, at the corner of her lips. He swears, but she just laughs it off, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand,catching her breath. Citra would have killed him for that. 

"Gosh, these are strong!" She comments, her voice raspy as she picks up the doctor's bag of pills. He chuckles. He loves the sense of humour on her. Citra never made you laugh, never chilled.

"I love you" he repeats, pulling her to him for a kiss. She doesn't say it back, but she clings on to him when he pulls away, hugs him tight, hides her face into him. He knows she loves him back. Even when he feels her quiet sobs against his neck, he know she loves him back, and he smiles. He smiles.

________________________

Alice wakes up abruptly, sitting up in bed, hand on her heart. She's heard him. She looks frantically around the room, but she cannot see him anywhere, and of course she cannot, because he cannot be there. If he'd moved he'd be dead, not randomly standing in her bedroom.

Vaas' bedroom, I mean.

She can hardly remember what he looks like, apart from 'big' and 'muscly'. He slapped her a few times, she was talking about poop. Probably deserved a slap or two. It's their fault though, they'd drugged her.

She doesn't even know his name. The man she killed.

'I promise, I won't leave you here to die'. Is he still there? Has he given up waiting? It's been about three days, no? Has he fallen asleep? Has he blown up yet? Will she feel it when he does? How long has he screamed for help before tiring out?

"Nena, ¿qué te pasa, amor?" Vaas cooes, wrapping his warm hands on her shaking shoulders.

He's so cuddly. She never realised. A part of her wonders why he craves attention so much, why he's so desperate to be held and loved. Why he so needs to be kind to something, someone. Her. The contrast between his cold hearted, hot blooded temper whenever he deals with people as opposed to his needy, touch-craving self when he's around his mermaid is vertiginous. She has no doubt that he's expressed his devious tendencies on many prostitutes, and he's probably raped women before, yet with her he's all 'nena', and 'you like it when I touch you like that?'. He says he loves her. 

It's twisted, but it makes a girl feel special.

"What's wrong, sirenita?"

She finally remembers to blink, lifts a hand to his. It's really good he's on her side now, it's good. It's useful. Well played, Alice.

"I had a nightmare" she provides, her voice shaky.

"Heads again? You want me to get that dog?"

He's thoughtful, too, in his own twisted way.

"No, thank you. It's not the h-heads, it's uh..." 

It's the guy I killed.

"... It's... You know when I escaped the Rakyats, I sort of... I got caught by a warrior, and I tricked him into walking onto a land mine in a rice field. Then I told him to let me go and get help, I promised I would. Then I didn't. I ran off to Badtown and called you. I left him there to die, I lied to him. I just left."

Suddenly, the huge claw that was crushing Alice's heart releases its hold and she can breathe normally again. Damn, it feels good to say it. She exhales, feels like laughing. It's amazing. Then a part of her briefly worries that Vaas will think less of her, that she's finally managed to knock herself off the pedestal he's put her on, but one look at his lustful eyes reassures her.

"Ai, nena... You're a fucking badass, you know that? Fuck..." He starts mumbling in Spanish, running his lips along her ear and neck, making her tingle all over. His hands start wandering.

"I... Vaas, wait, I..."

"He believed you? What did you say, mm? What did you say to that fucker, baby?"

His hand goes down and cups her sex, his teeth gently nibble at her earlobe.

"Vaas, I can see him. I mean, hear him, that's why I can't sleep."

He stops.

"I feel terrible. I keep wondering if he's still alive, still waiting. Maybe he's already dead, I don't know. That's why I can't sleep."

Vaas' hand leaves her, he moves away from her ear. Then he gets up from the bed, naked as always, grabs his trousers. The tropical night air feels cold on Alice' skin, now he's gone.

"Vaas?"

"You need your sleep." He says, putting on his cargo pants. "My mermaid needs to sleep. Let's go see if that fucker' still there. Come on."

 

They drive through the jungle, in the middle of the night. It's so incredibly dark, and Alice watches, transfixed, as they pass many pairs of shining eyes in the trees. Finally the road stretches onto open lands, and under the moonlight Alice recognises her surroundings.

"Oh, this is where I jumped out. The rice field should be just there."

They park the car, leave the headlights on as they make their way to the edge of the field. Vaas motions silently to his lips, then his ear, and makes his way into the field. Alice steps exactly where he does. If you listen carefully, you can hear the bombs, in the dark water.  
Vaas stops, and Alice, who had not been expecting him to, steadies herself by holding on to his hips. He's looking ahead, squinting in the dark. Their shadows cover what looks like a crouching animal, a few feet away. Vaas points at it, wraps an arm around her waist, shifts them both the side so the car lights hit the crouches man.

"There. Look, there's that fucker. Holy shit, nena, he's really here!" He's laughing.

Alice cannot believe her own eyes. He's there. He's still there. Three days later, he's still there, he's still waiting, he's still alive.

He's gone down to his knee, his shoulders are slumped, he's quiet but his shoulders still stir with each shaky breath. 

"Hey, hermano!" Shouts Vaas, causing Alice to jump. "Amigo!"

The figure raises its head, slowly. Looks but doesn't see. Maybe the lights are blinding him, maybe he cannot see I'm here, thinks Alice. Her fingers are grasping at Vaas' red shirt. She hides behind him.

"You stopping my mermaid from sleeping, you know that?" 

Vaas isn't even shaken, if anything he looks like he's having a great time.

"You stopping her from sleeping, because she's too good, hermano, she's worried for you, you stupid fuck."

Vaas pulls out his handgun. His arm snakes around Alice's body, pulls her forward, ignores her resistance as the pirate settles her in front of him. She's pressed against him, she feels frozen, despite the hot, humid air, and his hot chest against her back.

"Look at her, hermano. Look." He's holding Alice's face, and she briefly wonders if he's not, in fact, talking to her. "She beautiful, no? She needs her fucking sleep. You stupid fuck."

He wraps Alice's hands around the gun, wraps his own around hers.

"Nobody stops my mermaid from sleeping." Says Vaas, incredibly softly, his breath directly into her ear.

His fingers crush hers against the trigger. The gunshot is loud, the kickback is absorbed by the strong body at her back. The warrior collapses to the floor, splashing water all over. Alice blinks, confused. Where's the explosion?

Vaas laughs.

"Look at that! Look, nena! It was a faulty one!!" 

He's laughing like it's the joke of the century.

"He's been waiting there like a stupid fuck, for nothing! He could have just walked away!"

He's laughing so hard he's doubling over, holding on to her waist, nearly toppling her over. Alice just looks into nothing. She feels nothing. And when he pulls her to the car, pushes her against the door, grabs at her and pulls her underwear down as he frees himself from his trousers, Alice feels nothing. Her eyes stare into the beautiful night sky. So many stars. Soon he's grunting against her, and she feels the sexual pleasure building in her, but she's detached from it, she feels but doesn't. How twisted is that? The metal is cold against her bare bum, her back is getting rub burns, her toes struggle to touch the ground as Vaas buries himself inside her, again and again, slamming into her, and Alice comes but feels nothing. His sperm drips down her thighs, he collects some of it and smears it onto her lips, then kisses her roughly. He collapses to his knees, taking her down with him. He tells her he loves her.

Alice feels nothing.


	22. Rainbow Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Update! It's here! Please don't lose interest!
> 
> Thank you very much for the support and kudos and comments :) 
> 
> Here is some very ominous clouds looming in the horizon. Hope you enjoy!

After giving in to her sick curiosity (which is how Alice likes to think of her attraction to Vaas), there was some time when Alice feared that now he'd had what he wanted, the pirate would lose interest in her. She is relieved to see that this really isn't the case, and quite the contrary, as Vaas seems to be in fact even more attracted to her, and his general possessiveness towards her appears to have heightened dramatically.

Following the... Execution, Alice enters a long, fierce, completely silent battle with herself. As she eats, she sleeps, she showers, she washes, she walks, she has sex, Alice is at war with herself, there's explosions and yelling and cries in her mind as her lips remain sealed.

She wins by convincing herself that he forced her to shoot the man, that no one could have known the mine was faulty, and that if she enjoys having sex with Vaas, then good, perfect, it's better like that, because imagine if she hated it and had to take it every single day, or nearly.

His declarations of love never fail to startle her, as regularly and casually given as they are. He never says it in public though, and part of her is amused at the idea of the mighty pirate being embarrassed in front of his mates. True, he grabs her, holds her, kisses her, runs his hands all over her when others are around, but she does wonder what his reaction would be if she randomly started kissing and cooing over him in front of the rest of the camp. Alice wishes she was brave enough to try it, just to see. Luckily for her, he seems happy enough with her having sex with him rather than saying I love you back. In his twisted mind, that's love. He doesn't seem to notice that he is always the one to initiate their love-making, or perhaps he is happy to ignore that, plus she never has to fake her enjoyment. 

Maybe it's because she's not had sex in a very long time, prior to Vaas, maybe it's because he's only the second man she ever has sex with, maybe it's the loneliness, the fear, maybe she's mad, but Alice does truly love having sex with Vaas, and her reluctance is more for show than anything. She keeps her distance, but secretly sighs in relief whenever she feels his hands reaching for her and his breath ghosting her neck, tender kisses on her skin and foreign endearments whispered in her ear. Soon she presses back against him and smiles whenever she does something that earns her a pleasured moan. She's yet to go down on him, and him on her, and she tells herself that she can keep that as her joker, even though she's given him pretty much everything else. They don't have sex from behind, either, and Alice refuses to let herself be touched by what she realises is his way of letting her set the pace, so as not to spook her.

She sometimes has to slap her own face, sharply, to remind herself of all the evils he's done her. 

One morning, Alice wakes abruptly. She doesn't dare move, but she knows who's standing behind her, at the side of the bed. She can feel him there. He looks all bloody, she knows that, she can smell it. He doesn't speak but she hears his voice all the same. He says oh you were forced to kill that guy were you, he made you do it, did he make you kill me? You fucking murdered me in cold blood. You shot me for that psycho, that slaver, I came back and I risked my life for you you stupid, selfish bitch, and you just shot me. I died protecting you. Ever wonder what's happened to Jessica since you shot me in the guts? Do you, you selfish bitch? You shot me you idiot, you know it, there was no one else there and your gun was smoking, god you're such a fucking... You're just so fucking stupid!! Waste of space bitch.

He's angry, she understands that. He's telling her the truth. Alice feels it. She cannot turn around. Leave me alone, I know I'm horrible, leave me!!

You like it when he fucks you! 

He laughs. It gurgles because of the blood in his mouth.

You're so sick. I'm glad I never got you out, you're right where you belong. In his bed. Stupid bitch.

I am surviving. If you'd just waited and listened...!

He just laughs her off, his cackles nothing like what his real laugh had used to be like. Before she killed him. Tim would not speak to her like this, although he's right. Alice is shaking, she doesn't want to turn around and face him, because he cannot be there, but what if he is? She reaches for Vaas. 

He is asleep, but wakes gently as she shuffles up to him and starts kissing him. He kisses back, humming contentedly, but doesn't wake. Alice has no time for this, she needs Tim to shut up. She needs to hear nothing.  
She sits up, Tim' shadow practically buzzing behind her, and yanks her own top off. She pulls her underwear down, throws the lot to the floor, goes back to Vaas. She kisses his cheeks, his neck, grazes her teeth around his ear, something she's learnt drives him wild. Finally he is stirring, a hand coming up lazily to carress her back. His eyes open when he feels the bare skin. She swallows his appreciative mumble with a kiss, half climbs on top of him as she deepens the kiss herself, and he's getting wound up now she can feel, he's awake, he's kissing back. Alice risks a quick look to the side.

Tim is still there, his blood is dripping onto the floor.

"Vaas, I want you." She tells the pirate. For once she's wanting to have sex, and he's the one who's slow to get started! She's got no time for that. Tim has moved closer. What would drive you crazy, if you were an insane pirate? 

"Vaas, I want you to fuck me, now."

He grunts, finally, finally getting it, and grabs her face roughly.

"Say that again, nena."

"I want you to fuck me."

"Again."

"Fuck me, Vaas, fuck me."

He lets out what sounds like a desperate, breathless laugh, and rolls them over until he is on top, settles between her legs.

"You want me to fuck you?"

"Yes, yes I do. Just fuck me."

Now, for God' sake! Tim is about to climb into bed.

"I'll fuck you, baby, I'll fuck you," he says, then starts speaking in Spanish as he settles between her legs, his cock hard, and Alice eagerly wraps her legs around his hips and tries pulling him inside her, and when that doesn't turn out to be enough she reaches down and guides his penis into her sex. Vaas is surprised by her eagerness, she knows, but his arousal is clouding his judgement and he complies immediately, entering her fully and starting a fairly quick rhythm straight away. She isn't ready, and it does hurt a bit, but the mixture of pain and arousal makes Tim's sinister, horrible appearance flicker like a faulty television. A bit more, and he'll be gone.   
Vaas is oblivious to her torment, thrusting into her whilst keeping up with the dirty talk. He looks like he's about to come, but Alice needs him to last longer, or if not then she needs the sensations to be more violent so Tim will fuck off once and for all. If only he'd bloody listened to her!!

"Harder!" She urges him, not recognising herself.

Vaas is just as stunned, staring at her face in comical shock, and when she repeats the injunction he hesitantly starts moving again, his eyes not leaving her face.

"Vaas, I am sure, I really want this. Fuck me harder. If you like? You don't have to." She adds, suddenly aware that he is in fact a person with feelings, and that he may not actually want to be having sex with her this early in the morning. Luckily this momentary flicker back to her regular self seems to be just what Vaas needs to get going again, and his face sets grimly, dangerously, as he lifts himself up onto his knees, bringing her hips along with his, and starts moving in her again, this time in short, powerful thrusts that make their hips slap and Alice's breath catch each time they collide. Tim is still there, but she's forgetting that he is, because Vaas' eyes are compelling hers, his look intense and lustful. He's pulling her hips into his with each thrust, then his hand goes to her throat, and stays there, not quite squeezing but definitely applying a slight pressure. Alice's eyes shut, because it's too much, and she can feel the now familiar first few sparks of her orgasm building up. She cannot control the noises coming out of her mouth, doesn't attempt to, because it doesn't matter, Tim's right, she is a pirate's whore, but she knows why she's doing this, she's surviving, she's entitled to, she's not going to apologise for surviving where others would have given up long before her.

"Like this? Huh? Hard like this?"

"Yes, yes please!"

He slaps her bum harder than he's ever done before.

"You like this?" He asks, his whole face contorted in pleasure, his muscles hard and strained as he never slows his pace. God forgive her, she does.

"Yes! God... Vaas, I'm co-!"

"No." He says suddenly, pulling out of her. "No, no, no, you ain't coming yet, nena, we're not done here."  
Alice blinks in confusion, her whole body feeling like it is one hot nerve.

"You can't do this to me." 

He leans down, the pendant on his necklace grazing her breasts teasingly.

"We're not done here. I ain't done with you, sirenita. You can't do this to me."

He's looking straight into her eyes, the hand on her throat softening its hold, shifting to cup her face, his thumb teasing her lips and entering her mouth. His tone is almost harsh, and Alice feels vaguely frightened, though it is dulled in delicious arousal. She's watching him, transfixed, waiting to see what he'll do next.

"I'm going to flip you over." He tells her, softly, reverently. "I'm going to hold you there," a hand on her thigh, "and there," a hand on their back of her neck, "and I'm going to fuck you, baby, hard and deep, until you scream my name, and then I'm gonna come inside of you, because you're mine. And I'm yours. Whatever is standing over there watching us fuck is gonna go away for good. That sound good to you?". He just sees everything. Alice is in awe.

"Yes." Is that her voice?

"But first, I want to hear three little words from you, nena. I want you to say to me 'I love you'. Can you do that for me, nena?"

What? Is he serious? And he must be, because he is waiting, looking at her, almost smug, with a hint of vulnerability in his eyes. Tim' silhouette is taking shape again. Alice needs this. He wants three words? Fine. They're just words. They mean nothing.

"I love you."

"Mean it."

"I love you." She repeats, making sure to hold his intense gaze. "Now make it go away. My love."

Vaas swears loudly, and turns her over. He forces her on all four, one of his hands holds her thigh as he starts fucking her again, the other goes to the back of her neck and pushes down, pressing her into the mattress, and all his predictions come true.

Tim leaves, never haunts Alice again.

 

Over the next few days, Alice doesn't say it again. Vaas becomes strangely chivaleresque. It's as if the dirtier their love making gets, the more gentle he becomes out of the bedroom, which probably makes perfect sense in his crazy mind. He kisses her hand. Brushes her hair. Doesn't kick her dog again. Simultaneously, Alice' self loathing issues simmer steadily at the back of her mind. They creep around her head, and at random times they launch an attack, and she hears her own voice ring next to her, saying "fuck me" and "harder" like a gross impression of a 90s porn film.

She keeps telling herself she does it for survival. That it's just biology if she enjoys it.

At least Tim's gone for good.

Something else starts playing on Alice's mind.

Vaas has gone weird.

Which, said as such, seems fairly difficult to imagine, but he has. Vaas is different. He spends quite a long time staring into the distance, unblinking, smoking weed and cigars.

One evening, he is nowhere to be found, and Alice, unable to handle his absence, goes to find him. He finds him at the beach, staring into the sunset, burning his green eyes into the orange glows, his head surrounded by a slow cloud of smoke.

"Vaas?" She asks timidly, stopping a couple of steps away.

He doesn't turn, just extends his hand, an invitation. She takes it. He pulls her to him, settles an arm over her shoulders. Offers her his joint, which she turns down.  
They look at the sunset together. Or rather, Vaas is looking at it, Alice is peeping up at him.

"Where is your necklace from?" She asks timidly, getting worried by this quiet, still version of her insane pirate. It can't be good.

"This?" He nods to the green pendant on his neck. "Just a...memory of a past life."

She suddenly realises that she's never gifted him with anything, and feels oddly guilty about it. 

"It suits you," she says, still looking for a reaction. "Same green as your eyes."

He chuckles, tears his eyes away from the setting sun and kisses her temple.

"You're quite the smooth talker yourself, nena" he tells her. "Do you know what colour your eyes are?" He asks her, staring into her eyes, holding her face gently with the hand holding his joint.

"What?" 

"They're blue. And green. And grey. And brown. Gold, silver, purple, orange... They're every colour I ever want to see."

She'd make fun of his chat up line if he didn't have such an intense sincerity in his expression. He leans down and kisses her, slow, deep, his hand cupping her face, and Alice feels building in her the lust for him which now permanently lies dormant in her, awakening nearly three times a day.

"Here, try this, baby," he tells her, before pulling on his joint. He keeps it in his mouth and leans into her as if to kiss her. The smoke travels from his mouth to hers, and she breathes in, obliging him, keen to find out exactly what is wrong with him at present. She doesn't cough, and Vaas gives her a little smile before turning back to the dying sun. Alice weighs her words carefully.

"Is there something on your mind, Vaas?" She asks, her voice roughened by the weed.

He remains silent for a little while.

"Yeah."

"Is it... Is there anything I can help with?"

"You can help with relieving stress, sirenita," he says playfully nibbling at her ear.

Alice knows he's trying to dodge the question.

"You seem a bit troubled," she continues, ignoring the tongue in her ear, "and I'm getting a bit worried. I want you to be happy, and I just wanted you to know that if there's anything you want to talk about... Well, I'm a good listener. And I can relieve stress too." She adds, smiling at him. She's a bit worried that her forwardness will get her in trouble, but luckily Vaas decides to be moved instead. He gives her a strange, glassy look, then leans in and rests his face against her neck.

"So you do love me huh?"

"I really care about you."

"I fucking care about you too." He says, his voice breaking. The shift in his mood is so sudden that for a second Alice wonders if she's dreaming it. "Fuck, Alice, I love you. I love you so much. I'd do anything for you, you know that? I'd fucking kill anyone. You just say the word, baby." A hand snakes around her belly, the thumb stroking gently. "I want you to carry my babies one day, nena. I wanna grow old with you. You and me, we're gonna grow old together, we're gonna be sitting on the beach watching the sunset together. The pirate and the mermaid. This is the real fucking deal for me, do you get it? The real fucking thing."

"For me too," provides Alice, telling herself she's lying.

"Nena," cries Vaas, and he gathers her in arms, joint forgotten, burying his face at the crook of her neck. "Fuck, baby, I wish this could all come true. I wanna see little kids running around, you know? With Mohawks and your rainbow eyes."

The image is comical, and Alice laughs nervously. His seriousness and sudden emotional display is making her on edge, more than the actual words he is speaking.

"That'd be scary, don't you think?" He ignores the question. "Vaas?" Still nothing. Alice cooes him into looking up. "My love, are you ok?" The loving words come out easily, naturally. "Why would it not come true?"

"Tell me the truth," he grabs her face, looks into her eyes. "Tell me the truth, nena. Do I still scare you?"

He wants a no, she knows, but he always seems to be able to see right through her lies. Alice opts for a half truth.

"You're scaring me right now. What is wrong?"

"I'm sorry I hurt you the other night. You know, when I got you against the wall? I wasn't thinking straight..."

"Vaas!" Alice moves out of his grasp, now positively alarmed. "Just tell me what's wrong! You're scaring me!"

It's the first time she's ever raised her voice at him,and he seems stunned into silence.

"Please, my love, just tell me what's on your mind. Why wouldn't it all come true? Watching the sunset together, growing old?"

Having kids?

The pirate looks at the sun, which has now disappeared in the horizon.

"Snow White." He says, suddenly. "Fucking Snow White, Jason Brody. I can't fucking kill him. He ain't dead yet. I fucking tried everything. He keeps coming at me. I just wanna be with you, I don't want this shit."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. Fucking oh. I'm gonna try one more time, nena, I ain't quitting. He's gonna come for me. Tomorrow night, at the party. I'll be waiting. Thing is... I'm not sure I'm gonna live, nena. Maybe I'm not meant to win this one. Maybe it's fucking karma or some shit. I'll fight him. And I'll hide you, you'll be safe, Carlos will look after you. He'll send you home if I die." He grabs her arms. "Please fuck me one last time. Let's have sex all night, ok? In case I die."

Alice is shaken. What if he does, in fact, die? What of her then? And... What if he dies? What's a world without Vaas? Keep calm, keep calm, he's high as fuck, just cool him down.

"Don't be silly, of course you'll beat him." He's strong, really strong, he's a good fighter, that Jason is just some rich kid, no match for Vaas. There's no way Vaas is going to die. Not like that. Is there? "You'll beat him. Everything will come true. Karma doesn't exist. You will win."

She's trying to convince herself as much as she is trying to convince him, she knows that.

"You'll live. But if you want to have sex all night anyway... Then I'm ok with that." She gives him a cheeky smile, takes his hand in hers. "I believe I said please earlier." She says innocently, turning around, poking her bum out. He takes the bait.

Vaas gives her bum a gentle tap, laughing, and follows back towards the camp. On the way, Alice keeps things light hearted, joking, 'accidentally' apologising or saying please, accepting the joint he offers her.

She's over doing it, she knows, Vaas probably knows, but he seems happy to play along with it, desperate to forget about the fact that he thinks this is his last night on Earth.

God knows Alice is desperate to forget that too.


	23. Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damn.  
> This is it, we're only about three chapters away from ze end.  
> Thank you so, so much for your continued support with this story. Amazing :) can't express how appreciative I am.  
> Not too pleased with this chapter, but it was necessary for the plot.  
> Hope you enjoy!

When Jason Brody stabs Vaas Montenegro and leaves him for dead, Alice Ridley is hiding in an underground room with Vaas' right hand man Carlos guarding her.

They've been in there for about three hours now, since the beginning of the pirates' celebratory party, the one that celebrates Jason Brody's death. Except Jason isn't dead, of course, and he's just won his duel with Vaas.

Carlos and Alice are both silent. He is standing near the door, and she is sitting against the wall, thinking back to the last time she saw Vaas, a few hours before. He said bye to her, told Carlos to wait four hours, and if nothing happened, to come out and send Alice back to England. Then Alice surprised herself by running to him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him one last time. For the first time, she'd genuinely felt like telling him she loved him. She'd said "take care", instead, and Vaas had kissed her forehead before waking away. He'd given her the passport.

Sitting there, alone with Carlos, Alice tells herself it's the growing insanity in her which pushed her to feel like saying the dreaded three words. She needs to see her family. She's had nothing but Vaas for months now, probably nearly a year. It would drive anyone crazy. 

Sitting there, holding the passport, Alice is calm, because as mad as Vaas is he is an excellent fighter, and he will win. He'll live. There's no way she'd get home this easy. It would feel wrong, too, although she is unable to figure out why.

Alice is tired of sitting there.

She stands, walks around. Why is Carlos so still? Vaas would be pacing like a madman in this concrete cage.

"How long has it been?"

"Three hours."

"Right."

She paces the room, listens to the annoying buzz of the neon lamp.

"He's going to win, isn't he?" She asks. No response. This is pissing her off.

"Where are you from, Carlos? Hey?" She presses, growing angry.

"None of your business" replies the pirate.

"How old are you?"

"Older than you."

"I doubt it."

He remains silent, doesn't look at her.

"Vaas is going to win, isn't he? He's a good fighter. That Jason Brody is just a regular guy, isn't he? Vaas is stronger."

"Why the fuck do you care?" Snaps Carlos. "Wouldn't it be better for you if he died?"

Alice has nothing to say to that. Yes, it would be better for her if Vaas died.

"Yes." She says, finally. "But it doesn't mean I actually do want him dead."

Carlos smirks, turning to her. He's leaning against the wall with his foot lazily resting against the concrete. Even his pose is getting on Alice's nerves. She's been in there too long. She needs to know.

"So you finally got that Stockholm shit going, yeah?"

"You know, it's actually possible to be a decent person and not wish others dead without having some sort of terrible phychological condition!" She snaps back. 

It's Stockholm, he's got to be right. Smug arse.

"Yeah, sure." Says Carlos. "and who gives a shit where it's coming from, right? You like him now, he makes you happy. Makes you happy all night long. You're probably happier now than you've ever been. Scratched in all the right places. He's even scratched itches you didn't know you had! Fuck Stockholm, am I right? He's the most exciting thing that's ever happened to you, boring English girl. Thank god for Stockholm."

She's regretting talking to him. He doesn't say much, but when he does, boy does it hit home!

"You're very literate." She tells him, acid in her voice.

"Are you calling me stupid?"

"You had me fooled."

"Are you seriously gonna go back to your rainy island? After everything?" He laughs dismissively, shaking his head at her stupidity. "you got Stockholm for that shit country you came from, not Vaas. He fucking liberated you, hermana."

"And you're all liberated too, are you, hermano? Following him around, looking after his girlfriend?"

"You even talk like him now. You're so into him you don't even know."

"Are you jealous?" Pushes Alice, sarcastically. Carlos just snorts, shaking is head at nothing. "It's not about that." Says Alice.

"What?"

"It's not about what feelings I may have now, after months of captivity. It's about choice. He took choices away from me. He made me believe I had to be thankful for being allowed to live. Like it's up to him in the first place! Don't I owe to myself to be careful? Don't I owe it to myself, to remember my choice was taken away? Am I not a person? Do I not get to make my own choices?"

Carlos says nothing to that, finally beaten into silence. Alice starts getting a bit worried, because what if Carlos repeats all of this to Vaas?

"Obviously I do love him now, I just..."

"Save it, hermana, I won't say a thing."

"Do you have actual hermanas, Carlos? A mother? Cousins? Would you want them kept by a slaver, or leading a boring life on a rainy island?"

"Let's just go back to shutting the fuck up, alright? We're out soon."

"He'd be here by now. Let's just go and have a look." Suggests Alice, fruitlessly.

An hour later, Carlos suddenly stirs, gestures to her to come over. He arms his weapon, and she pulls hers out. They walk up the stairs, quietly, carefully, and when they reach the trapdoor, Carlos lifts it gently.

There isn't a sound outside, it's all eerily calm. Not what you would expect from a pirates party.

Carlos takes forever to come out, he watches, listens, shuts his eyes to hear better. Eventually, he starts climbing out, crouching, then stands slowly. When he is satisfied that Brody isn't still around, Carlos extends his hand to Alice but the young woman just climbs out by herself, ignoring him.

It's dark, the camp only lit by the colourful fairy lights and occasional fires here and there. There's no one around. Then, as her eyes get used to her new surroundings and forget the aggressive light of the underground hide, Alice starts seeing them. The pirates. The dogs. Dead, bloody, all over the ground, some stopped in uncanny positions, like they never saw death coming their way. It might be bad, but Alice's first thought goes to her dog.

"Boy?" She calls, and calls again, but he never comes.

Carlos sets off towards the main building, stopping occasionally to check pulses.

Are they the only ones left? Thinks Alice, and she almost wants to laugh. Are they the only ones left??

"I can't see Vaas" says Carlos. 

"I'll look in here" replies Alice, her heart beating wildly. Is he dead? Oh god, is he dead? 

She walks into the deserted warehouse. Is he dead? Is that good? It's good, isn't it? 

It's almost as if she feels him lying nearby. She walks straight to him, in the dark, before she can even really see him. He's there though, it is him, she knows it. Feels it. She stops when her feet step into the pool of blood.

He's pale. Covered in red. Lying on the floor, silent, helpless. His green eyes look black, they stare at the ceiling.

Dead.

Alice feels nothing. She's not decided what to think.

Her torment is dead.

 

______________

 

Vaas is drowning. His body does not respond and it will not quit sinking into the deep dark sea. Air blocks into his lungs, doesn't go further. Water fills his mouth and throat. It's dark and cold.

Why did he not wait for backup? Why did he climb onto that stupid boat on his own? Dumb motherfucker. Sisterfucker, rather. He wasn't going to die like this, not drowned. He was going to live forever. He hasn't loved yet, that's something left to do.

There's a loud splash. He looks up. 

A mermaid is swimming to him, easily, effortlessly, her long hair flowing around her lovely face. She's swimming to him, for him, to save him. She wraps her arms around him, lifts him up. They break the water surface together.

He's still in the water.

What's going on? Where's that boat, the mermaid?

That's over, Vaas, that's happened already, you're tripping.

But she's here, he can see her, she's standing by the water, above him, she's looking down. Can she not see him? Won't she save him again? Maybe if he shouts?

He tries, tries, all his might, and all that comes out is a strangled cough.

It works. 

She dives in.

______________

"Keep pressing down"

"What do you think I'm doing?! Just keep your eyes on the road!"

The car swirls to the left, then to the right.

"For God' sake!"

"What the fuck do you want me to do?! It's the fucking road!"

"Oh god, he's so... So..."

"Just keep pressing!"

"THAT'S WHAT I'M DOING!!"

The big, white, colonial house comes into view. A slightly rumpled grey haired man is standing near the greenhouse.

The car comes to an abrupt stop, projecting a load of dirt around.

"DOC!" Yells Carlos. 

Dr Earnhardt starts, recognises the right hand man to Vaas Montenegro, then runs over to the car.

On the backseat, Alice is pressing her hands, gleaming with blood, over Vaas' stomach.

"He's been stabbed!" She cries, clearly out of her mind with panic.

"Help me take him inside" commands the doctor, master of himself. The two men each carry an end of the pirate lord, and Alice keeps her hands firmly on his wound. They take him upstairs, the stairs nearly being the death of Vaas.

Once in the room, with the pirate on the bed, his instruments and syringes and bandages at hand, Alec pushes the other two out, and gets to work.

 

Hours later, the doctor finds them both downstairs. Carlos is standing near the door, looking grim, and Alice is curled up on the armchair, knees to her chest and nails to her teeth. She jumps to her feet when he arrives.

Alec wipes his hands, chooses his words carefully. Very carefully. This pirate is not as dumb as the average one.

"He is in a critical condition. Very critical. He is alive, but barely. I cannot make any promises, other than, of course, doing my job. I believe he needs some blood, to replace at least some of what he's lost. That may help. What's your blood type, lad?" He asks Carlos, because he knows Carlos won't know. And he knows Alice will jump to the rescue, British as ever.

"I..."

"I'm 0 positive," provides the girl. "That means I'm a universal donor, doesn't it?"

"Well yes, but, it will be quite a bit of blood my dear..."

"I'll be fine."

Carlos doesn't see anything suspicious.

"Alright then. Are you sure?" She nods. "Well, come with me then. Carlos, is it? Help yourself to anything."

The doctor leads Alice upstairs.

The girl rushes to the bed, but stops about two feet away, as if struck by sudden shyness.

"I'm 0 positive" she repeats. "I've given blood before, how much do you need? Have you got biscuits? We can just continue until I pass out."

"I'll keep my biscuits, thank you very much." Says Alec, drily.

She stares at him in confusion.

"He doesn't need blood." Continues the doctor, quietly, in a rushed whisper, to make sure Carlos downstairs cannot hear. "He's out, but he's going to be alright. He just needs a lot of sleep, a lot of syringes, stitches which I've given him already. The stab hasn't hit anything vital."

"But...?"

"I needed you here, alone. It doesn't matter what blood type you are. You think I know what his blood type is?"

"I'm a universal..."

"We do not need blood" repeats Alec. How does he word this?

"So he's... Going to live?" She sounds neither relieved nor disappointed.

"Perhaps not." He says, barely able to contain his glee. She's still confused.

"Alice" he walks to her, grabs her arms. "Vaas Montenegro could die tonight. Do you understand? The blood transplant may fail. His wound may fester despite my best efforts. A vital organ may have been hit. He could die tonight. Do you understand?"

His eyes are wild, searching hers. He's strangely lucid although his idea is mad.  
She throws a quick glance at Vaas.

"Don't worry my dear, he's out. He cannot hear a thing. This could be painless. I could just... Slip something in the wound. Stop looking after him." He lets out a breathless chuckle. "He may die tonight. Vaas may die tonight. You and I could be free!"

She says nothing, looks back at him. Looks down at the pirate, back to him, then her eyes see through him, she's thinking.

He could die. He could. It's easy, you just stop tending to him. Say the blood failed, the wound was infected, the fever killed him. Alice looks at Alec. His tired, hallucinated face, his wrinkles, the many sorrows that scarred his intelligent face. What's the island done to them? Two decent people, plotting to kill an unconscious man. This is it. She's saved him twice, now she can fix her wrongs. She can free herself. Why is he asking her? Why not just do it himself? What's making him ask her? She doesn't get it. It doesn't matter, Alice, Vaas could die! Everything could be over, you can leave! Find Jessica, ring your mother, go home!

At the thought of her mother, Alice's eyes fill with burning tears.

She looks at Alec. She looks at Vaas.

 

She steels her mind.


	24. A Mad Tea Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear oh dear. I've no idea what I'm going to do with myself once this is over. One more chapter and an epilogue, that's all it takes!  
> Thank you so , so flipping much for your feedback and support. Thank you. I don't know how to express my gratitude. Thank you :)   
> I hope you enjoy, this was intense to write, hope it works.

"I don't know-I can't just-I don't..."

"Alice!" The doctor's eyes are full of pity and disbelief. "The man enslaved you, girl. He raped you. He took everything away from you."

Alice shakes her head and paces the room. What kind of friend would have her taking this sort of decision?

"I can't just make this decision right now! Why are you-why would you ask me this? I can't decide now!"

She hides her face behind the newspaper in her hand, covers her mouth with the back of her hand. Her eyes are wide, hallucinated.  
She stares back at the doctor.

"Why didn't you just kill him already, if you're so sure he deserves to die? Why wait for me?"

The doctor shrugs, seems confused. The both of them remain silent for a while.

"I guess I just wasn't strong enough," he says, finally. "A monster remains frightening even in his sleep."

Alice is suddenly grabbed by a surge of affection for the old doctor. They're the same, the two of them. Very different, yes, but he's her reflection, he's the only one whose madness makes sense to her. He is sad, broken, filled with sorrow, and that's the reason why he drowns it all in drugs and mushrooms, just like Alice is doing with Vaas' crazy fantasy,the one that pictures her as a kindly mermaid with rainbow eyes. His bullshit is her dulling drug. She is moved, and cannot hold his gaze any longer. Both turn to stare silently at Vaas' unmoving form.

"Can I get some time alone with him? I need to think about this. He deserves to die, but..."

But I don't deserve to become a murderer.

Alec nods, picks up a few bits of bloodied bandages and leaves. Alice listens to his footsteps down the wooden stairs, hears him exchange a couple of words with Carlos. The two of them walk out onto the porch.  
She turns to the silent body next to her. Even half dead, it's as if the temperature rises just by his being around. It's the first time she's ever looked down on him. He seems taller, strangely, though his face, stripped from the usual anger or mockery, seems foreign, barely recognisable. His top has been cut off, his chest is wrapped in bandages. Dark chest hairs show under them.

Alice pulls one of the little pink chairs, sits on it by the patient' side. The fan is spinning above them, its blades running an endless circle, like a flying hatchet that never lands.

"See this?" She asks, is relieved by his silence. "It's a newspaper. It's the Times. It came last week, with one of your latest victims."The young woman starts flicking through the massive pages. "There's been ah... A little girl has been found dead, they suspect her uncle. A Kardashian is getting married. There's a big sale on. Some politician said something really sexist, and a famous actor said something racist. Social media is on both cases. Cyber bullying is getting out of control, and so is child obesity. Big companies aren't paying taxes. Teachers are being blamed for everything. Apparently, a report showed that the police is failing to record over half of sexual assault cases. Flooding in the north. It's the hottest year ever, they say."

She chuckles, it sounds empty to her own ears.

"You know, I'm pretty sure they say that every year."

He remains silent, and Alice folds up the paper, puts it to the side.

"Every year. The same story, again and again, every year. It's insane, isn't it?"

Silence.

"Can you hear me?"

Silence.

"I hope you can hear me. You know what? I really, really, bloody hope you can hear me!" Her voice is picking up, her heart beating faster. "I hope you heard everything. Because this is what you do to people, Vaas, you contaminate them with your crazy and you make them feel like doing all sorts of crazy things." Her fingers are like spider legs, all crooked, her eyes wide and mad.

She stands, walks to him. She is mad, scared, but she needs to keep her voice down if she wants to avoid getting Carlos' attention.

"Did you ever even think about how scared I was?? Did you? That day on the beach, about a year ago, when you grabbed me, held me down, enslaved me?? Left me on my own for days, free to imagine the worst, too scared to eat or even sleep? No, you didn't. You never once thought about me. It was all about you, and what you fancied becoming next, wasn't it? You made me talk to a dead head. You made me eat a person. You made me kill. You made me believe that I was lucky, bloody lucky to be alive, lucky to be allowed to swim, as if I was some dog you took on a walk!"

He still isn't reacting, which is good, because Alice is unable to stop herself now. It's as if someone has opened a tap somewhere in her mind, and the words are pouring out, in an unstoppable, destructive flow.

"You manipulated me, you killed my friends, you made me think I had a choice when you took everything away from me, you made me-you-you made me want to sleep with you, as if I could have chosen not to!"

There are tears rolling down her cheeks now, she's too angry to be embarrassed.

"You twisted the meaning of love. You think this is love?" A mad laugh. "This is torture. You. destroyed. me!" Her face is close to his now, his sleeping face, and just as violently as the anger has taken over Alice's head, a powerful rush of tenderness washes it all away, and she is left confused, upset, not recognising herself. His full lips look attractive in his sleep. His face is relaxed, quiet. The scar on his head tells a sad story.

"You destroyed life for me. You destroyed love. You've twisted everything I've ever believed, you've destroyed every single barrier I had, every single limit I set myself. Because of you, and your sick, manipulative ways, I'm a murderer, a traitor, a lover."

That last word doesn't belong where it spawned, but Alice is too far gone to realise what she is saying.

"And I could kill now, Vaas, now you're nothing, you're down, what's it like to be at my mercy, huh? Should I give you a choice? Strike a deal with you? Don't fight me, and I'll kill you quick. Huh? What do you say? How's that for a fucking deal?!"

She jumps to her feet, throws the newspaper in anger. Paces the room, grabbing at her hair. Her fucked up hair. She laughs, sobs, stops.

"You destroyed life for me." She repeats, more calmly. "You destroyed it, Vaas, do you understand?" She walks to him, grabs the bedpost, pleading to him. "Now I can't live again. I can't be alive again. If you die, Vaas, how am I ever going to be alive again?"

She's fully crying, now, and hides her face in her hand. She hears a breath catching and knows it isn't her own, but she refuses to look at him.

"I don't deserve to be a murderer. I don't deserve to have to take this decision. I deserve to be alive. I've fought for this. I survived. I survived you. You're a fucking cancer and I won't kill you, Vaas, I can't. I am... Oh god! It's fucked up, isn't it? I am reborn. I'm alive now, and I can't go back, and it's all your fault!"

She looks up finally, to find two green eyes staring right back at her. They're half shut, hardly there at all, but he must be conscious. He swallows, his eyes glassy. She gives him the hardest, most hateful look she can muster.

"Congratulations." She says, cold as frost. "You live, and I love."

Without another word, Alice wipes her tears, stands, and leaves the room.

 

 

She doesn't stop until she reaches the front living room. The table is set, with steaming cups of tea, like some ridiculous tea party, ridiculous because who would drink tea in this heat, and what pirates drink tea out of lovely little porcelain cups?

She snorts, still shaking from her outburst. Her heart has started constricting, and she cannot dismiss the look of pure hurt and sorrow on Vaas' face as she'd walked away from him. She's hurt him for real, and it pains her more than it should. He's alone with his pain now.

"Alec?" She calls, harshly, because it helps with the self loathing. "Carlos?"

Before walking out, Alice is struck by a flash of genius and she pinches the tender skin of her inner arm, hard, then grabs a plaster from Alec's desk and covers it. She steps outside and finds them both near the greenhouse, arguing quietly. They both look up as she arrives, the doctor has an expectant look.

"Vaas will be fine." She declares, waves her bruised arm. "Transfusion went fine. Everyone's fine. Why are you two arguing?"

There's no arguing with her, that much is clear, and Carlos is the first to respond.

"The good doctor here is hiding people. Women."

"I most certainly...!"

"He fucking is. He's been doing for a while. It's fucking obvious." He says that to her, and it sounds like a reproach. Carlos isn't an idiot, and he's probably figured out that she knew the doctor was hiding something, and that she's been protecting her good friend. To support his accusation, Carlos grabs something that Alec was clearly trying to hide behind his back, and throws it at Alice's feet. 

Sanitary towels.

"I don't know about you, sirenita, but I'm ready to bet they're the two American girls Vaas has been hunting for weeks. Brody's friends, you know what I mean?" The pirate shakes his head in disbelief, smiling all kinds of crazy. "You fucking piece of...!"

He reaches for the doctor's throat, and Alice jumps in, trying to break up the fight. She is hit by an elbow, Alec lets out a pained cry and Carlos has his face scratched, when all three suddenly freeze. There's rattling up the hillside. They turn. A cloud of dust softly elevates nearby, on the road. Someone is coming, and it sure as fuck isn't a pirate.

Alec pushes Carlos off.

"The Rakyat!" He whispers frantically.

Carlos reaches for his belt, for the gun he's left inside on the coffee table.

"Let's get in!" Commands Alice. "Alec you talk to them, give them what they want, and don't you dare say anything about any of us!" 

This means Vaas too, and Alice is almost in tears at the thought that is would be the perfect way of getting into Jason's and Citra's good books. Give over the Americans, hand in Vaas. There is no time to think though, and Alice pulls Carlos inside the house. The two of them grab their weapons and climb upstairs, run past Vaas' body and kneel near the window just as the car stops in front of the mansion. Three warriors step out, machine guns in hand. Follows a conversation during which Alec keeps his hands up, palms open, then points at the area down the cliff. Another car arrives, and four more warriors step out. The three Rakyat that arrived first set off towards the cliff, and the other four point their guns at Alec. One looks up to the windows, and Carlos and Alice quickly lower their heads. Alice plays with the AK-47 in her arms, cradled like a newborn baby. Carlos is giving her a murderous look.

When they dare looking up again, there are not two, but four Americans being led up the hill. Two women and two men. They look scared, and are roughly shoved into a van that has arrived too. The van departs, and Alec looks like he is about to try and argue, when he is hit across the face with a gun. He falls to the floor, and following a quick instruction from the warrior in charge, a Rakyat arms then shoulders his weapon, pointing it at the doctor. 

Alice stands, and the window bursts in flashes of crystal-like chimes. The Rakyat jumps a few feet as the bullets hit him, and Alec runs towards the house. Carlos swears.

All hell breaks loose.


	25. The Day her Mind Cracked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oooook! Here it is! Final chapter. Not too pleased, but this is it I think. I've taken this where I wanted it to go. 
> 
> There will be an epilogue that will give a glimpse into the future. Hope this works out :/ it's been tricky.

Truth is, Alice didn't exactly have any kind of plan in mind when she started shooting at the Rakyats. The only plan was to stop them from killing Alec.

Technically, this had turned out to be the worst decision Alice could have made. The best decision would have been not to hide, but to deliver not only the Americans, but Vaas himself, then ask for the Rakyats to take her to Jason Brody. There, she would have begged for his help, and he would have helped her, because he was civilised, and they were both westerners, and his friends would have felt for her, poor abductee. The only issue was obviously Citra, who was helping Jason. Last time they'd spoken, Citra had sounded like she considered Alice a traitor. And of course, there was the issue of Alice having messed up the hostage exchange situation, and having killed one of her warriors.

Ok, actually, perhaps the running and shooting decision wasn't the worst one. Maybe it was the least worst of them all.

So once one of them is down and the doctor is safe inside, the other Rakyats raise their weapons to the windows and open fire. Alice and Carlos get to the ground again.

"What the fuck, mermaid?" Shouts Carlos.

"They were going to kill the doctor!"

"So?!"

"Well I can't treat a stab wound, can you, genius??"

Carlos says nothing to that, successfully persuaded, and Alice marvels silently at how proficient she has become at lying. 

"You stay here," instructs the pirate. "Protect Vaas. I'm going downstairs, me and Earnheardt will keep the bottom. I'll bring you ammo."

The bullets have momentarily stopped raining onto them, and as Carlos makes his way downstairs Alice risks a look out. The warriors, only five of them, as some departed with the van full of hostages, are taking cover, and appear to be deploying around the house. They know what they're doing. Alice sure doesn't, Alec is probably useless with a gun, Vaas is out, and Carlos is good but can he single handedly take down five people?

She hears coughing behind her, and crawls to Vaas' side. 

"Here," she says, pulling him off the bed and onto the floor, between the bed and the wall. "Hide here, don't move, don't make a noise."

Carlos returns with ammo, and helps her move the bed and mattress around so they would shelter Vaas from bullets coming from the door or the outside. He makes to leave again, and Alice calls: 

"Carlos, wait! What are we doing? They're taking cover and I think they're trying to surround us..."

"You think?" He sasses, "yeah they are. Earnheardt is holding the back windows and I'm gonna hold the front ones, we need them to die before they call reinforcements. They haven't yet, don't think they got a radio. That gives us time. They don't know how many of us there are, they're careful. You stay here, protect Vaas. If you hear footsteps you shoot, alright? Shoot at the stairs, through the wall. If it's me or Earnheardt we'll call from downstairs. Gotta go."

He disappears again. Alice ditches the AK-47 and picks up the shotgun and extra ammo Carlos has brought her. He knows that's her best weapon. The only one she's actually decent at, that is.

It's grown awfully quiet, Alice feels it on her body like cold water, a bad omen. She looks at Vaas. He is conscious, though too weak to move. She can see his fingers twitching, like they'd used to twitch around her dress, her hair, her thighs. Alice walks to the desk and flips it over, kneeling behind it, weapon raised and aimed at the door, ready. She's terrified. Excited. She's taunting the Rakyats in her mind. Come on, fucker. I'm ready. Try coming here, see what happens. The shotgun feels good in her hands.

Footsteps. Downstairs, not here. Adrenaline makes them sound awfully close. There's struggle, grunts, breaking glass, a single shot. Silence.

Footsteps,careful, slow, steady. They make the wood squeak on the old stairs. Alice waits. Careful, slow feet climbing up. How many? One pair, is it? One warrior. Maybe the others are dead? She's only heard one shot. Could be anyone. Alice waits. Terrified. Excited.

The steps are near. They're just opposite the wall now. She'll get to see the person in the door soon. Door's shut actually. Good. Squeaking, cracking, whining wood. Alice stands, raises the shotgun at the door. She can't miss, she's too close.

Silence. Careful.

The doorknob twitches. Alice shoots.

There's an explosion of splinters and she hears a body tumbling down the steps. She lets out a breath, halfway between a whimper and a snort. Her fingers are tingling, her heart pounding. She walks to the door, weapon raised, looks down. There's a dead body down there, and she doesn't see the other one, the live one, the one that's hiding under his companion's corpse. She turns to Vaas, smiling.

"Got one." She tells him. She doesn't react straight away, doesn't register the hurried footsteps. It's too late when she does. 

Alice flinches away but does not have time to dodge the powerful punch thrown at her from behind. She ducks, gets hit and stumbles to the floor. She crawls away, blinking away the stars to find the shotgun that's escaped her. Her assailant reaches her as she reaches the weapon, kicks it out of her hands, hits her again, grabs her hair and hits her head against the floor. Alice stops moving, stops fighting. Maybe it's a survival thing, she plays dead.

The strikes subside and her attacker takes a look around, turns to her shotgun,a few feet away. That's what Alice is waiting for. She rises suddenly, punches him in the groin, starts hitting his face repeatedly, as hard as she can, but she isn't strong enough and he grabs her face, crushing it, pushes her to the floor. He sits on top of her, joins his fingers around her throat, presses. Alice's eyes fill up with burning tears as she thrashes wildly, unable to topple him off, scratching at his tattooed arms and face, slowly realising that she is being murdered.

There's a movement above the Rakyat's head, and his hold abruptly weakens and leaves as he reaches up to his own throat, his face a mask of comical surprise. Blood starts pouring out and Alice sees the pink pencil buried in the warrior's throat. Vaas collapses again, with a pained grunt, and reaches for the shotgun. He rolls it over to Alice and she picks it up, only to have it slapped out of her grasp again by the Rakyat. He's still fighting. Blood pouring, he's still fighting. He goes after the gun, and Vaas grabs his legs, collapsing him to the ground. Alice crawls to the weapon, feels teeth digging into her thigh. She yells in pain, surprise and anger, and turns to arm the weapon. She's close, but Vaas is on top of the warrior and they are wrestling, she isn't sure she won't kill them both. She kicks the Rakyat's face.

She gets up to her knees, suddenly calm, relaxed, terrified, excited. The weight of Vaas' body, coupled with the pain the Rakyat is currently in, pin their enemy to the ground, and Alice kneels above him, as if she is about to sit on his face, and places the canon directly onto the Rakyat's head. She fires.

Red and pink bursts before Alice's eyes and settles on her face, her hair, her arms, her crotch, everywhere.

Vaas rolls off of their common victim, utterly spent. Alice drops the gun. Wipes her face. Takes her top off, wipes her face and arms,drops it onto the steaming red hole where there used to be a head. She turns to Vaas and pulls him carefully away from the bloody corpse. She gets the mattress flat on the ground, helps Vaas get on top of it. She takes a quick look at his wound. It has not reopened. He's ok. She makes to move away but he grabs her arm, his hold amazingly strong despite the state he is in. He whispers something, staring into her eyes.

"Pardon?" She asks, wiping some blood of her nose.

He pulls her to him, until her ear is directly against his mouth and she can feel his hot breath filling her. She tries to be aroused.

He whispers again, this time she gets it, it's something along the lines of "...win you back."

"You're welcome to try." She tells him, pulling away. "But you might not want to."

His response is to kiss her hand, desperately, and she has to push him away to get him off of her.

She's so calm.

Is that normal?

It can't be right. She's so calm.

Is it shock? Do you call this shock?

She picks up the shotgun and walks downstairs, not bothering to be quiet.

She's really calm, there's nothing left to worry about. She's done.

Carlos is sitting against the wall, eyes open, and there's a little red hole right between his eyes.  
She walks past him. Alec is on the floor, so is a Rakyat, a machete buried in his back. That's two upstairs, one down here. Three dead, two left. Alice feels the doctor's pulse. It's still there, he's only passed out.

She reloads the shotgun.

They could be anywhere. They're coming for her.

Alice is so, so calm.

She begins screaming.

"Heeeelp! Help, please! Oh my god!!!"

She stumbles to the door, one hand holding the shotgun flat against the wall as she stands in the doorframe.

"Heeeeelp!!" She screams, starts crying. "Please somebody, help me!"

There's movement to her left. A Rakyat appears, followed by another.

"Please help me, they're all dead, oh my god sir please!"

"Who are you?"

They're careful, weapons raised at her.

"I'm Alice, please, oh god, the p-pirates are dead, help me please, there's so much b-blood..."

She sees them see her half naked self, covered in blood, see the clean trails left by the tears running down her face. They lower their weapons. Alice raises hers.

BANG

One down.

"Wait, wait, please!"

BANG

And the other. 

Alice walks to them. One has a big, important looking backpack. She opens it. It's full of petrol and matches. They were instructed to burn the house down. That's what needs to happen, then.

Alice, still calm, still master of herself, strides back into the house. She pours water onto Alec's face.

"Alec."

The doctor blinks, takes in her appearance.

"A-Alice!"

"I'm fine. The pirates are dead. Carlos is dead. Vaas is alive. Listen, Citra sent these guys to kill you and burn this house down. I don't know why. It doesn't make sense,because she's helping Jason Brody, and you're helping Jason's friends. She's taken Jason's friends. This is what we need to do. We need her to think it happened. We need Jason to think it happened. We need Jason to hate her and we need Jason to make sure she never sends anyone here again."

"Alice, love, what happened to you?"

"Alec, focus! Listen! Next time Jason Brody comes here, you are going to speak to him, do you understand me? He's going to find the house burning, and he's going to find you still alive. You killed the two Rakyats outside in self defence. Vaas isn't here, he's dead, I'm not here, I was killed by Carlos when Vaas died."

She doesn't like the way he's looking at her. Like he doesn't like her anymore. Like he... Respects her. 

"You will help me get Vaas out of here, we'll hide in the greenhouse. We need to start burning the house. Jason will come, and you need to tell him everything. How the Rakyats came to take his friends to Citra's temple. How they'd been instructed to kill you. I am dead, Vaas is dead, all pirates are dead. Citra turned on him. Ok? We'll save the house once Jason has seen it burn."

He nods.

"You have gone mad." He murmurs, and it's not an insult. He's just stating a fact.

"We're all mad here. I was always mad, otherwise I wouldn't have come here."

Alice goes upstairs and searches through the drawers to find a new top.

"Nena"

She freezes.

"Nena"

Now decent again, Alice goes to Vaas' side.

"What?" She's not forgotten her anger. Despite everything, she's not forgotten her anger. She'd still be normal if it wasn't for him. She's also quite fond of this new coldness governing her, it's stopping any form of guilt from getting through.

"Baby," he tries to sit up, fails. "Baby, I'm gonna win you back."

"Yeah you said that."

"I will. Or I'll die trying."

"Promises, promises." She leaves, evading his searching hand.

She finds Alec again, he stands as she approaches.

"Ready?"

He nods.

"Then let's get burning."


	26. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it!!
> 
> Thank you for reading until the end, hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. This epilogue gives you clues as to where things went from there.  
> Thank you!!

The Swedish lady looked so Swedish it hurt.

Ingrid stood straight as a stick, blond beyond colour, and she smelled of coffee and new clothes. She felt that she had turned Italian, after so many years spent there with her partner, but the grief, and the anxiety, had somehow dug out the Swedish in her and to her greatest horror she had turned into everything she had attempted to escape through her travels, her foreign boyfriends, her foreign child. There is nothing wrong with being Swedish, of course, and if Ingrid had been born Spanish that's what she would have wanted to escape. 

None of that mattered, though. Her daughter had gone missing while on a diving trip on south east Asia, along with her friends, and he rest of the diving trip.

No one knew where they were. Everyone had ideas, obviously, and none of them pleasant. She'd been killed. Raped and killed. That was the most likely.

But what of the others? Had all ten people on the boat suffered the same fate? The number of missing corpses was what gave Ingrid hope, because it couldn't be the work of a lone psychopathic killer, it had to be something else. An accident? Perhaps they were stranded on a desert island?

The police had been useless, so Ingrid hired a private detective who specialised in disappearances abroad. The private detective warned her: in that region of the world, that many people gone missing but no sign of an accident, it could be slave traders. Which meant that her daughter could be just about anywhere in the world, likely drugged, her identity likely erased, and there was little chance she would ever be found. Ingrid said to just find out, at least. Not knowing was worse. Wherever her daughter was, Ingrid could easily find her. Surely her daughter would stand out. Ingrid was prepared to walk around the streets of Hong Kong until she found her.

Two years.

Two years of slowly losing herself, of shrinking back into her Swedish mother. Ingrid was losing hope, but not spite. She contacted slave traders online. Tried to purchase her own qdaughter. Gave specific details, mentioning for instance she wanted a slave that had a birthmark the shape of Africa on her thigh, and a circular scar on her elbow. 

Nothing.

Then one day, the private detective called her. Told her to come over. Would not say a thing on the phone.

So, Ingrid left Italy, travelled all the way to Holland. She knew the sinuous and labyrinth like streets like the back of her hand by now, and she found her way easily, climbed the cracking steps up to the top floor, to the den the detective called his office.

"Mrs Ridley," said the detective, not bothering to remember she was divorced.

"Miss Magnusson" corrected Ingrid, but it was half hearted.

He ushered her into the room and made her sit down at his desk in front of his computer.

"I found uh- I found your daughter, miss. I believe."

"F-found her? So she is-?"

"Alive."

"Where? Is she-? Has she been-?"

"It's better if I show you."

The detective opened YouTube on his computer. He typed in "the Vaas Montenegro experience" and landed on a playlist. He scrolled down.

"What's this?"

"This is a pirate that operates in south east Asia. He is part of a huge slave trade, sells drugs, weapons... He's not at the top of the trade but very nearly. A lot of disappearances in this area of the world can be traced down to him. Of course, no one knows that. I've had to contact some very special people to get this type of information."

Special people being former secret agents, and former slaves.

"And he just... Puts videos on YouTube?"

"Startling, I know. Ah!"

The detective opened up a video.

"It is a good job you are sitting down." He told her, visibly nervous. As the video buffered into clarity, Ingrid could hear the detective biting his nails behind her back.

 

The camera shakes then focuses on a man. His Mohawk stands proudly on his badly shaved head. 

"Hello." Hispanic accent. "And welcome to my show. It's a beautiful day here on my island." The camera is turned towards a paradise like view of emerald hills and turquoise water. "Take a look at my house." The camera whizzes towards a great wooden colonial house, partly burnt and destroyed. "Still some work to do but Rome wasn't built in one day."

He smiles.

"Let's take a look inside. Follow me, motherfucker!"

The camera cuts and when it films again it appears to be inside the house.

It has been set onto a table, and the pirate is sitting opposite the camera. Behind him, there's an old man sitting at a desk in the corner, and, standing at the sink nearby...

Ingrid starts shaking. Her heart punches hard against her ribcage. Alice. Her baby.

"So it's a lot of work you know. I'm ok. Got my nurse looking after me."

There's a snort in the background, and Ingrid would recognise that sound amongst all others. She's had to put up with it for years, throughout her daughter's teenage angst.

The pirate smiles, like nothing happened. He is caressing the table, absentmindedly. He throws one look over his shoulder then bends forward, looking at his viewers in the eyes.

"We fucked on this table" he whispers. He chuckles, then kisses the wooden surface. "It was fucking beautiful, hermano, I tell you. So much love," his fingers grasp at thin air. "So much passion..." Unexpectedly, his eyes water and he looks away, wipes them with the back of his hand. "Sunday's Valentine's Day. I'm taking her for a swim. My gorgeous, gorgeous mermaid. What are you doing for Valentine's Day, huh? You lousy fuck?"

"Are you speaking to me?" Asks the old man from the back.

The pirate bursts out laughing.

"I don't want to know what you're doing, hermano!" He laughs, and Ingrid sees her daughter' shoulders shake as she tries in vain to suppress her own laughter. The pirate sees it, and looks back at the camera, visibly proud.

"Ok then. Put your plans for Valentine's Day in the comments. Bye. Say bye, Alice."

"Bye Alice."

Ingrid laughs tearfully at the old joke. The video ends.

"Oh god... It stopped! Is there more? Is she in more? Which videos?"

"There are a couple... There is one dated from a few months ago, at the beach, and another of her with a dog. This is the most recent one."  
"She looks well" cries Ingrid. "She looks heathy. She's caught the sun!"

It occurs to her suddenly that the detective isn't looking as pleased as he should.

"What?" She asks, annoyed.

"Mrs Ridley... Ingrid. These videos... They do not seem to suggest an abduction. They... Do not seem to show any form of struggle, or... It looks as if she is staying there of her own accord. And... I uh... Well..."

"Yes? What?"

"Well we could easily trace where the videos were uploaded from and uh, find your daughter. But uh..."

"Of course we want to do that. What?"

"P-perhaps she met this man while on her holiday. Perhaps she fell for him, it happens, you know? Whatever the case, at present she is choosing to stay with him, the videos show her fairly happy, and with him being in the profession that he is in... Well, were she to be found, I am not sure this association with a people smuggler would be very... It wouldn't shine the best of light on your daughter."

And just like that, the hope that has been springing into Ingrid's mind starts slipping away, like smoke through an open window.

"What are you saying?"

"I am saying that I am unsure as to how much of an association there is between the two of them. There certainly seems to be consensual, romantic and physical relationship, and I am not sure whether reporting your daughter's whereabouts to the authorities would be the best thing we could do for her."

"Alice is not a criminal."

"No, but... In the eyes of the law, crime by association is still crime."

"Alice is NOT a criminal."

The detective sighs. "There's more."

He starts searching through the playlist again.

"I didn't want to show you all this but..."

He plays a video.

It's Alice, her back to the camera, watching as the pirate shoots her friends. Then Alice, this time in what appears to be a camp, shooting at a target while pirates cheer and the Mohawk bearing pirate snuggles up to her. Ingrid feels herself grow cold. There is no mistaking the smile on her daughter's face, the red in her cheeks. Another short video, this time filmed at arm's length by the pirate. He is in bed with her daughter. She is sleeping, her head resting on his shoulder, her arm wrapped possessively over his chest. He is smiling, kisses her forehead. The video title reads "mi vida".

"I've seen enough!" Yells Ingrid, and the detective turns the computer screen off.

"There is enough video evidence here to suggest your daughter may have very much willingly joined this pirate, and that she may have... Helped him, on occasions."

Ingrid cannot speak. God, she needs another coffee. And without bloody milk, thank you.

"You employ me, Mrs Ridley. I'll do what you want. It is your decision. We could have your daughter back soon. Only thing is, she may be coming back to a court trial, that's what I mean."

When the lady fails to react, the detective starts fidgeting nervously.

"I mean, she seems well. Healthy. In love, really."

"I know." Interrupts Ingrid, cold as ice. "I can see it, I am not blind."

She nods to herself, resigned.

"I know."

She stands. Picks up her handbag.

"I know. Thank you for your hard work. Payment will be transferred first thing tomorrow."

"So... What about...?"

"I said I know. I can see-" she nods, chokes on her words. "I can she is living happily ever after."

She shakes his hand, an iron like claw.

"Goodbye, then."

"Goodbye."

She walks out.

 

Miles away, Vaas has just uploaded his latest video. He turns around, looks at his mermaid as she peels a mango, chatting quietly to the doctor. His chest still hurts but it is getting better, and he smiles.

This is his happy ending.

And good news is, it's not even the end!


End file.
